Faculty Bio

Dr. W. Allan Walker is the Conrad Taff Professor of Nutrition, Director of the Division of Nutrition and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Principal Investigator of the Mucosal Immunology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Walker earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in 1959 from DePauw University and his medical degree cum laude from Washington University School of Medicine in 1963. He completed his internship, residency and chief residency in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in Minneapolis. His training continued with research fellowships in immunology with Dr. Robert Good at the University of Minnesota, and in gastroenterology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with Dr. Kurt Isselbacher.

In 1971, Dr.Walker joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School as an instructor of medicine. He was named a Professor of Pediatrics in 1982 when he became Chief of the Combined Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital for Children until 2001. He has directed the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School since 1996.

Dr. Walker has received numerous honors for his work, including a Research Career Development Award and an R37 Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health for breast milk immunology, the Borden Award and the Murray Davidson Award for Excellence in Pediatric Nutrition Research from the American Academy of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition for Nutrition Research, and the Hugh Butt Award from the American Gastroenterological Association for Clinical Nutrition Investigation. More recently, he received the 2003 Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University School of Medicine. He has recently, written with co-author Courtney Humphries, two books entitled “Eat, Play and Be Happy for Kids” and “Eating Healthy during Pregnancy”” for the public as part of Harvard Publications which was published by McGraw/Hill. He is also principal investigator of a NIH supported Harvard Clinical Nutrition Research Center, one of seven such Centers funded throughout the United States

He has served on and chaired numerous committees including the Research Committee and Public Policy Committee of the AGA and American Society of Nutrition Section and Chaired the GMA-2 Study Section at NIH. Currently, he is a member of the Advisory Council at NIDDK. He has held editorial responsibilities on 15 scientific publications including Editor-in-Chief of the JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY AND NUTRITION. His research interests include function of protective nutrients (omega-3-fatty acids, probiotics, etc.) in children, immunologic protective functions of breast milk and interaction of bacteria with intestine as a means of preventing gastrointestinal disease states.