Sir Mark Walport is the British government's chief scientific advisor and head of the Government Office for Science. Previously, he was director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving human and animal health by supporting the brightest minds. Previously he was professor of medicine and head of the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London. A member of numerous international advisory bodies, Walport has served on the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology since 2004. He has conducted independent reviews for the U.K. government on the use and sharing of personal information in the public and private sectors ("Data Sharing Review" in 2009) and on secondary education ("Science and Mathematics: Secondary Education for the 21st Century" in 2010). Walport received a knighthood in 2009 for services to medical research and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2011.