Christopher Walsh, Ph.D., is a consulting professor to the Stanford University Department of Chemistry and an advisor to the Stanford ChEM-H institute. Dr. Walsh was the Hamilton Kuhn Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School from 1987 to 2013, when he took emeritus status. He has had extensive academic leadership experience, including Chairmanship of the MIT Chemistry Department and of the HMS Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology Department, as well as serving as President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Walsh’s research has focused on enzymes and enzyme inhibitors, with specialization on antibiotics and biosynthesis of other biologically and medicinally active natural products. He and his group authored 810 research papers and four books. Dr. Walsh is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy 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 and MIT, he 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, Immunogen, Leukosite, Millennium, Kosan, Vicuron, and Epizyme. Currently he is on the board of directors of Ironwood, and Proteostasis, and the California Institute for Biomedical Research and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He is a member of the scientific advisory groups at Hua, Abide, Cidara, and Flex Pharma, an advisor to Health Care Ventures and a limited investor in Health Care Ventures, MPM Bioventures, Clarus, and the Longwood Venture Funds.