Education and training

Undergraduate training in biochemistry and medicine - University of Liverpool
House officer posts, pathology training rotation, registrar in chemical pathology - Liverpool Royal Infirmary
Lecturer in chemical pathology - Institute of Child Health, London and (concurrent):
Honorary senior registrar - Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London
Senior lecturer in clinical biochemistry and honorary consultant - University of Southampton/University Hospital Southampton, 1979 to 1990
Consultant in chemical pathology and honorary clinical senior lecturer - Southampton General Hospital/University Hospital Southampton, 1990 to 2010
Honorary consultant in chemical pathology - University Hospital Southampton, 2010

Experience

Dr Walker is an honorary consultant in chemical pathology.

Clinical career

Before retirement in 2010, Dr Walker was the head of the chemical pathology department at Southampton General Hospital. In addition to carrying out routine biochemical tests, this large laboratory provides specialist services for hormone investigations, paediatric biochemistry and inherited biochemical disorders. It's also one of the few national laboratories that analyses essential trace elements (like zinc and selenium) and toxic elements (like lead and mercury).

Her special interest was in paediatric biochemistry, and she developed the paediatric diagnostic service and introduced a range of tests for rare inherited biochemical disorders which can cause devastating illness, most often in infants and children. These tests are offered regionally.

Dr Walker also ran and directed the departmental kidney stone clinic, which was established in the 1970s. There are very few nationally. Many of the referrals are from the surgical urologists who remove or break up the stones. The clinic then carries out biochemical tests to find out why patients have the stones, and gives advice and treatment if necessary to stop it happening again.

Research career

UHS granted Dr Walker an honorary consultancy in 2010. This enables her to continue her research and to write articles and book chapters on paediatric biochemistry and kidney stones.

Dr Walker is carrying out ongoing research to look at variations in our genes that can increase the risk of having calcium kidney stones. These are very common worldwide, affecting around 10% of men and 5% of women.

Using advanced technology (whole exome sequencing), the department of human genetics and genomic medicine at the University of Southampton can now look for variations in hundreds of genes at one go. In a collaboration with Sarah Ennis, professor of genomics, Dr Walker is undertaking a study to analyse DNA from families in which several members have had stones which are clearly inherited.

Awards and prizes

Awarded fellowship of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry (May 2011)

Publications

Walker V, Stansbridge EM, Griffin DG. Demography and biochemistry of 2800 patients from a renal stones clinic. Ann Clin Biochem 2013; 50: 127-139.
Walker V. Ammonia metabolism and hyperammonemic disorders. Invited Review. Advances in Clinical Chemistry 2014; 67: 73-150.
Walker V. Phosphaturia in kidney stone formers-still an enigma. Invited Review. Advances in Clinical Chemistry 2019; 90: 133-196.

Contact

You can contact Dr Walker via Julie Baylis, PA to Dr Cook - call 023 8120 6436 or send an email.