Professor Philip D Walson, MD

Editor-in-Chief, GaBI Journal

Board Certified in Paediatrics, Clinical Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology
Visiting Professor, Institute for Clinical Chemistry, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University Medical Center at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

After his undergraduate studies in the University of California, Berkeley, USA, Professor Philip Walson obtained his MD at the University of California, School of Medicine (San Francisco, USA) in 1969. He trained in paediatrics in the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago and afterwards returned to the University of California to complete a 2-year fellowship in clinical pharmacology at the Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute.

For 19 years (1981-2000) he was Professor of Paediatrics, Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the Ohio State University/Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, USA. During this time he was also co-founder, Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Pediatric Clinical Trials International, a for-profit subsidiary of the hospital dedicated to the development of paediatric therapeutics.

He was the Medical Director of the Central Ohio Poison Control Center, Director of the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) and Toxicology Laboratory and principal investigator of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) supported Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit (PPRU) and Pediatric Clinical Pharmacologist for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supported Research Unit for Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP) in Columbus, USA.

In 2000, Professor Walson moved to Cincinnati, USA, to set up the Clinical Trials Office at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and was Director of the Clinical Pharmacology Division. He was also the co-principal investigator for the University of Cincinnati PPRU and taught clinical study design at the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati.

In August 2008, he retired from the University of Cincinnati to move to Europe where he continues as consultant to industry and government on paediatric clinical trial design.

Since November 2007, Professor Walson has been a Visiting Professor at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, working with Professor Michael Oellerich on various TDM projects while teaching medical students part-time.

Professor Walson is the past president and founder of the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology and is the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Therapeutics until July 2012. Professor Walson remains as the Emeritus Editor for Clinical Therapeutics. He is the author of more than 200 publications and is the past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Drugs and Section on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He is Chair of the Data Safety Monitoring Committee for studies carried out by US FDA/NICHD under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA).