* Mark Walport has been named the next director of the Wellcome Trust. He takes over in June from Mike Dexter, who stands down after five years.
Professor Walport, 50, is currently head of the division of medicine at Imperial College London. His clinical and research interests focus on immunology and the genetics of rheumatic diseases. Until earlier this month, he was a governor of the trust.
In 1996, Professor Walport was part of the Nuffield committee on bioethics working party that gave a cautious welcome to xenotransplantation - the use of animal organs for human transplants.
* The University of Oxford has named Hagan Bayley , head of medical biochemistry and genetics at Texas A&M University, chair of chemical biology.
* The Royal Academy of Engineering has appointed six visiting professors: Barbara Carroll , director of Enfusion and chair of the cabinet of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, will work with the University of Glasgow; John McDougall , president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, will work with Sheffield Hallam University; Jim Poole , sustainable development manager at the Environment Agency Wales, will work with Cardiff; David Slater , former director of environmental protection with the Environment Agency and now a partner with Acona, will work with the Environmental Technology Centre based in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology; Roger Venables , managing director of Crane Environmental, will work with Queen's University, Belfast; David Welsh , director of health, safety and environment at Rolls-Royce, will work with the University of Bristol.