About
About
Chris Whelan, Ph.D., is a scientist from Dublin, Ireland. He has founded and led the world's largest studies of circulating proteins (UKB-PPP) and epilepsy brain scans (ENIGMA-Epilepsy) and has driven the adoption of next-gen proteomics in drug discovery & development. In 2025, after a decade of leadership roles in biopharma, Chris founded Ignition Scientific to advise biotechs, non-profits and start-up incubators on their proteomics & precision medicine strategies. In parallel, Chris is actively building a new venture aimed at translating population proteomics to the clinic.
Chris Whelan, Ph.D., is a scientist from Dublin, Ireland. He has founded and led the world's largest studies of circulating proteins (UKB-PPP) and epilepsy brain scans (ENIGMA-Epilepsy) and has driven increased adoption of next-gen proteomics in drug discovery & development. In 2025, after a decade of leadership roles in biopharma, Chris founded Ignition Scientific to advise biotechs, non-profits and start-up incubators on their proteomics & precision medicine strategies. In parallel, Chris is actively building a new venture aimed at translating population proteomics to the clinic.
Chris Whelan, Ph.D., is a scientist from Dublin, Ireland. He has founded and led the world's largest studies of circulating proteins (UKB-PPP) and epilepsy brain scans (ENIGMA-Epilepsy) and has driven the adoption of next-gen proteomics in drug discovery & development. In 2025, after a decade of leadership roles in biopharma, Chris founded Ignition Scientific to advise biotechs, non-profits and start-up incubators on their proteomics & precision medicine strategies. In parallel, Chris is actively building a new venture aimed at translating population proteomics to the clinic.
UKB-PPP
UKB-PPP
In 2020, while leading the Translational Genetics group at Biogen in Cambridge, MA, Chris conceptualized, founded and led the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP). UKB-PPP raised over $20M across 13 companies, funding the world's largest study of circulating biomarkers (2,900 proteins across 55,000 people). Chris was senior corresponding author of the consortium's flagship Nature paper, cited over 900 times in 18 months.
In 2020, while leading the Translational Genetics group at Biogen in Cambridge, MA, Chris conceptualized, founded and led the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP). UKB-PPP raised over $20M across 13 companies, funding the world's largest study of circulating biomarkers (2,900 proteins across 55,000 people). Chris was senior corresponding author of the consortium's flagship Nature paper, cited over 900 times in 18 months.
In 2025, while Head of Molecular Neuroscience & Data Science at Johnson & Johnson, Chris successfully expanded UKB-PPP, raising $27M across 14 biopharma companies and £20M from the U.K. Government. This project will profile over 5,000 plasma proteins across 600,000 blood plasma samples.
In 2025, while Head of Molecular Neuroscience & Data Science at Johnson & Johnson, Chris successfully expanded UKB-PPP, raising $27M across 14 biopharma companies and £20M from the U.K. Government. This project will profile over 5,000 plasma proteins across 600,000 blood plasma samples.
UKB-PPP, PHase 2 (N=600,000)
UKB-PPP, PHase 2 (N=600,000)
Thought Leadership
Thought Leadership
Chris is recognized as a thought leader in proteomics. He has given keynote speeches at Oxford University, HUPO and the Festival of Genomics and has been interviewed about his work for The Times, The Independent, The Genetics Podcast and more. He is a formal advisor for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Range Biotechnologies, Seer, P4ML and Flagship Pioneering.
Chris is recognized as a thought leader in proteomics. He has given keynote speeches at Oxford University, HUPO and the Festival of Genomics and has been interviewed about his work for The Times, The Independent, The Genetics Podcast and more. He is a formal advisor for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Range Biotechnologies, Seer, P4ML and Flagship Pioneering.
Chris has held increasingly senior roles in pharma, where he has innovated the use of molecular data to drive precision R&D. From 2022 to 2025, he led multi-omics for J&J Neuroscience, where he modernized biomarker discovery via proteomic profiling of samples from Phase 3 trials, post-mortem brains, CSF & blood. From 2018 to 2022, he led therapeutic target discovery & validation at Biogen, where he conceptualized and co-led new drug programs for Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. From 2016 to 2018, he was neuroscience genetics strategy lead at Pfizer, where he discovered new biomarkers and drug targets for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Chris has held increasingly senior roles in pharma, where he has innovated the use of molecular data to drive precision R&D. From 2022 to 2025, he led multi-omics for J&J Neuroscience, where he modernized biomarker discovery via proteomic profiling of samples from Phase 3 trials, post-mortem brains, CSF & blood. From 2018 to 2022, he led therapeutic target discovery & validation at Biogen, where he conceptualized and co-led new drug programs for Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. From 2016 to 2018, he was neuroscience genetics strategy lead at Pfizer, where he discovered new biomarkers and drug targets for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Pharma Innovation
Pharma Innovation
Broad impact
Broad impact
Chris's scientific influence extends beyond proteomics and biobanks. He received his Ph.D. in Diagnostics & Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2014 and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California, where he founded and led the ENIGMA-Epilepsy neuroimaging consortium - a network of neurology clinics combining tens of thousands of brain scans worldwide. He has published over 60 papers cited 15,000 times across the fields of genetics, neuroscience, precision medicine & more.
Chris's scientific influence extends beyond proteomics and biobanks. He received his Ph.D. in Diagnostics & Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2014 and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California, where he founded and led the ENIGMA-Epilepsy neuroimaging consortium - a network of neurology clinics combining tens of thousands of brain scans worldwide. He has published over 60 papers cited 15,000 times across the fields of genetics, neuroscience, precision medicine & more.