Dr. Christopher D. Whelan is a multi-omics and neuroscience researcher from Dublin, Ireland. He completed his Ph.D. in Diagnostics & Therapeutics for Human Disease at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, where he co-led several genome-wide association studies of complex phenotypes such as epilepsy and subcortical brain volumes. In 2014, Chris moved to the U.S. to pursue a post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Southern California, where he founded and led the ENIGMA-Epilepsy neuroimaging consortium, combining brain MRI scans from over twenty neurology clinics worldwide. Chris moved to industry R&D in 2016, assuming roles of increasing responsibilities at Pfizer, Biogen, and Johnson & Johnson. In 2020, Chris conceptualized, founded, and led the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP) – a pre-competitive consortium of thirteen major biopharmaceutical companies conducting the world’s largest proteomics study to date. Chris continues to lead UKB-PPP as part of his current role as Head of Discovery & Molecular Data Science for Neuroscience at J&J, where his team combines genetics, single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics, and neuroimaging to identify novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for brain illnesses.