Alexis Walker

Alexis Walker, PhD is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in Science & Technology Studies, anthropology, and bioethics. Her research examines ethics and governance in corporate biomedicine and academic-industry partnerships --- from Nigerian biotech startups to American universities’ tech ventures. This includes examining how commercialization decisions are made and how governance arrangements can be structured to better promote patient access, broad distribution of benefits, and social welfare. Dr. Walker’s research is primarily based on interview methods, document analysis, and stakeholder co-design processes.

Dr. Walker studies how organizations understand and respond to questions of ethics, governance, and public responsibility in biomedical innovation, as a basis for designing justice-oriented reforms. Her research has examined justice issues in genomics, biotechnology patenting, and the governance of data-intensive health technologies. For example, she was recently Principal Investigator on a four-year NIH-funded project (K99/R00) that engaged professionals working in private sector genomics companies, investigating ethical challenges and opportunities related to privacy, access, and representation.

Dr. Walker’s previous research has examined the organizational dynamics of international financial institutions making loans for global health projects and the ethics of “precision rationing.” Prior to coming to Columbia, Dr. Walker was a postdoctoral fellow at the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Walker received her doctorate from Cornell University’s Department of Science and Technology Studies, a master’s degree in political sociology and STS from University of Strasbourg (France), and an undergraduate degree in Biology from Brown University.