Christopher Walsh is the Hamilton Kuhn Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP) at Harvard Medical School. He has had extensive academic leadership experience, including Chairmanship of the MIT Chemistry Dept (1982-1987) and the HMS Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology Dept (1987-1995) as well as serving as President and CEO of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (1992-1995).
His research has focused on enzymes and enzyme inhibitors, with recent specialization on antibiotics and biosynthesis of other biologically and medicinally active natural products. He and his group have authored 790 research papers, and three books: on Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms (1979); Antibiotics: Origins, Actions, Resistance (2003); Posttranslational Modification of Proteins: Expanding Nature’s Inventory (2005). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and a co-recipient of the 2010 Welch Prize in Chemistry.
At Harvard he has taught biochemistry, chemical biology, and pharmacology to medical students and graduate students and organic chemistry to undergraduates. He has been involved in a variety of venture-based biotechnology companies since 1981, including Genzyme, Ironwood, and Epizyme.
