Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

New UK Science Advisor Selected

Patrick Vallance has been selected as the next UK chief scientific advisor, Nature News reports.

Vallance is currently president of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline and, before that, was in charge of University College London's medical division, it adds. He is to replace Mark Walport, who left the post to lead the new UK Research and Innovation funding agency.

Nature News adds that as advisor, Vallance will provide counsel to the prime minister and cabinet as well as lead the Government Office for Science. Part of his role will be to provide advice as the UK grapples with the legal and regulatory ramifications of leaving the European Union, notes University College London's Graeme Reid. "Patrick Vallance's experience in both business and universities will be of huge value," Reid adds.

GlaxoSmithKline separately announced that Hal Barron, the president of research and development at California Life Sciences, would replace Vallance, according to Nature News.