Mark Walker
Senior Scientist, Acute Care Research
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist
The Ottawa Hospital
Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
University of Ottawa
Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health
University of Ottawa
Scientific Director
BORN Ontario
Co-Founder & Director, OMNI Research Group
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Vice Dean, Internationalization and Global Health
University of Ottawa
Research Interests
Dr. Mark Walker’s main research interests lay in perinatal epidemiology, with expertise in health services research, population health, artificial intelligence in healthcare and clinical trials aimed at improving health outcomes for pregnant individuals and newborns. His work covers a broad range of maternal-child health topics, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, and health care utilization. His program is incorporating artificial intelligence and decision analysis into perinatal research, enabling advancements in maternal-newborn care. He is also a proponent of knowledge translation, ensuring that clinical findings properly inform health policy and care delivery.
Brief Biography
Dr. Walker earned his Medical Degree from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario in 1993. He completed his residency training in OB/GYN at the University of Ottawa, Ontario in1998 followed by his Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2000. Dr. Walker then pursued a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto before graduating from Harvard University with a Master’s in Health Care Management. He is currently a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at TOH, a Senior Scientist at the OHRI, and serves as a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Epidemiology & Public Health at the University of Ottawa.
Since joining TOH in 2000, Dr. Walker has held several positions, including Program Director for the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Newborn Care. He has integrated research into health system improvement, collaborating with several departments to raise awareness of medical disorders in prenatal care and develop tools such as the Maternal Newborn Dashboard, which provides valuable audit and feedback on performance indicators for hospitals across Ontario.
Dr. Walker is the co-Founder of the OMNI Research Group and scientific Director of BORN Ontario (Better Outcomes Registry and Network). His work has helped the OMNI Research Group develop into a globally respected maternal health research program. He has held over $19 million in research funding as a PI, authored over 450 peer-reviewed publications, and served in lead roles for various CIHR funded studies and international perinatal research collaborations. Through his roles with the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System, Society of Obstetrician and Gynaecology Investigators of Canada, and the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Walker’s leadership has helped guide and improve maternal health policy.
Selected Publications
Diseases, conditions and populations of interest
Research and clinical approaches
