Patrick Vallance
The Lord Vallance of Balham | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear | |
| Assumed office 6 September 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | himself (as Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation) |
| Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation | |
| In office 5 July 2024 – 6 September 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Andrew Griffith |
| Succeeded by | himself (as Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear) |
| Government Chief Scientific Adviser | |
| In office 4 April 2018 – 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Whitty (interim) |
| Succeeded by | Dame Angela McLean |
| National Technology Advisor | |
| In office 2020–2023 | |
| Preceded by | Liam Maxwell |
| Succeeded by | Dave Smith |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 17 July 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick John Thompson Vallance 17 March 1960 Essex, England |
| Party | Labour |
| Spouse |
Sophia Ann Dexter (m. 1986) |
| Children | 3 |
| Scientific career | |
| Alma mater | St George's, University of London (BSc, MBBS) |
| Awards |
|
| Institutions | |
Patrick John Thompson Vallance, Baron Vallance of Balham (born 17 March 1960), is a British physician, scientist, life peer, and clinical pharmacologist who has served as Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero since September 2025. He previously served as Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from July 2024 until September 2025. He served as HM Government chief scientific adviser from 2018 to 2023.
From 1986 to 1995, Vallance taught at St George's Hospital Medical School, where his research concentrated on vascular biology and endothelial cell physiology. In 1995, he was appointed a professor at UCL Medical School, and in 2002 he became head of UCL's department of medicine. From 2012 to 2018, he was president of Research and Development (R&D) at the global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). He served as chairman of the Natural History Museum's board of trustees between 2022 and 2024.
In March 2020, as HM Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Vallance appeared alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, in televised briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to public health.