John Walton

A biographical note states:

Sir John Walton, now Lord Walton of Detchant, grew up in County Durham and followed his early interests in science and medicine with entry to medical school in wartime. He specialised in neurology and studied muscular dystrophy, discovering a new classification based on genetic information. He was Professor of Neurology and Dean of Medicine at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, having previously worked at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. At various times he has held the presidencies of the General Medical Council of Great Britain, the British Medical Association, the Royal Society of Medicine and other medical bodies. From 1983 to 1989 he was Warden of Green College, Oxford - the sister College of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He was created a life peer in 1989, and has contributed as a cross-bencher to debates in the House of Lords, particularly the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. He has chaired and been member of various Select Committees in the House of Lords, was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurological Sciences, been honoured as Freeman, City of London, Hon Freeman of the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, elected member of academies of numerous medical academies, and received many honorary degress from universities worldwide. He has written several specialist books and research papers, published an autobiography and jointly edited the Oxford Companion to Medicine. He was President of the World Federation of Neurology and Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Group of Great Britain.

Affiliations

• TOAST Parliamentary Patron | HealthWatch, patron | Research Defence Society Honorary Vice-President circa 2007-8