Annual Report 2025-2026

Prof David A. Walker is a paediatrician and paediatric oncologist who trained in general paediatrics and paediatric oncology in the UK and Australia. He practised as an NHS consultant at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust from 1990 to 2017 and continues to work in clinical research.

His work has focused particularly on the diagnosis of childhood cancer and brain tumours. He led the development of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health brain tumour diagnostic referral guideline and the HeadSmart public and professional awareness campaign, which was associated with a halving of the total diagnostic interval for childhood brain tumours across the UK between 2007 and 2017. He has also contributed to the development of ChildCancerSmart, applying the principles of early diagnosis to other childhood cancers.

During his clinical career, Prof Walker led children's brain tumour trials committees in the UK and Europe and co-chaired the International Consortium of Childhood Low Grade Glioma from 1997 to 2014. He also co-chaired a working party that established a network of children's brain tumour treatment centres across the UK and helped develop the Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham.

His research and policy work has included childhood cancer clinical trials, early diagnosis, access to new treatments and research funding. He served on the Board of the Société Internationale d'Oncologie Pédiatrique Europe from 2010 to 2014 and has contributed to parliamentary and national initiatives concerning childhood brain tumour research.

Since retiring from clinical practice, he has continued research, academic supervision and consultancy focused on accelerating the diagnosis of childhood cancer and enhancing awareness of CNS-directed drug delivery. He has also worked as an independent medical expert in clinical negligence cases and has undertaken training and work relating to mediation in healthcare disputes.

Prof Walker has published more than 130 papers and book chapters and is one of four international editors of Brain and Spinal Tumours of Childhood.

Dr. Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC is a distinguished physician, researcher, and leader in clinical and regulatory science. He twice served as Commissioner of Food and Drugs (2016–2017, 2022–2025) and is currently an Instructor in Medicine at Duke University. Between his FDA appointments, he led medical policy and strategy at Verily and Google Health. A nationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine and clinical research, Dr. Califf was a long-time professor and vice chancellor at Duke, where he founded the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has published over 1,200 peer-reviewed articles.

After serving as Director of the Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO Geneva, Anthony Costello returned to University College London in June 2018 as Professor of Global Health and Sustainable Development. Trained in paediatrics, he is founder and principal investigator of the international Lancet Countdown for Climate Action and Health Action, and senior adviser to the Children in All Policies 2030 programme supported by WHO, UNICEF and the Lancet. He led the first Lancet Commission in 2009 that concluded that “climate change was the biggest threat to global health in the 21st century.’ In 2016 he led the development of the Lancet Countdown which has published annual reports on climate and health indictors every year, free to download. 

His research has focused on health and social interventions to reduce maternal and newborn mortality, and latterly to improve nutrition and diabetes, in poor rural populations of low and middle income countries. He believes in partnership models for collaboration with national institutions in these settings. He received the James Spence medal of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2011, and a BMJ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. 

Dr. Christopher Martin is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at West Virginia University (WVU) and a Visiting Scholar at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain. As Director of Global Engagement, he oversees global health partnerships for WVU and is an active educator and scholar within WVU, nationally, and internationally. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Occupational Medicine. Dr. Martin was course director of the undergraduate medical school course Public Health for 19 years, chaired the MD Curriculum Committee, led an Occupational Medicine residency program for 26 years, and served as Designated Institutional Official for Graduate Medical Education in the School of Public Health. He was the Principal Investigator of two US federal government training grants which led to the establishment of a new Public Health and General Preventive Medicine residency at WVU in 2018.

He has served frequently as a reviewer for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Office of Extramural Programs and therefore has in depth knowledge of training programs throughout the USA. He has authored or co-authored eight book chapters, 26 scientific articles, and works in several additional media outlets, including The Atlantic. He maintains an active clinical practice and has served as a consultant to the US federal government (CDC, Vaccine Injury Compensation and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Programs), various universities around the world, and workers’ compensation agencies in both the USA and Canada.

He has served on committees of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American Board of Preventive Medicine, the NBME Council, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. Dr. Martin is the 2022 recipient of ACOEM’s Excellence in Education Award and the Edithe J. Levit Distinguished Service Award from the NBME in 2024.

Dr Matt Hewitt is a gynaecological oncologist at Liverpool Women’s University Hospital. After completing subspecialised training in gynaecological oncology surgery in the UK in the late 2000s, Dr Hewitt moved to Cork University Maternity Hospital to work as a gynaecological oncologist. He was involved in the hospital’s designation as a national centre for gynaecological oncology, and in the colposcopy unit becoming the second busiest in the country.

Prof Louise Kenny is an internationally renowned researcher in women’s and childhood health, and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool’s Faculty of Health & Life Sciences. After training in Liverpool, Prof Kenny began working as obstetrician-gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital in 2006, specialising in the management of high-risk pregnancies. She co-founded INFANT – Ireland’s first dedicated perinatal research centre.