Professor Walton was attracted to dermatology as a second year medical student in Bombay, when she helped at an International World Congress on the subject. She became so interested that she did the pilot work for her MD thesis even before she gained her MBBS – She served all the hospitals in Bombay in developing a staining technique for demonstrating mast cells whilst collating material for her own research.
She has worked as a Consultant in Hull and East Yorkshire since 1997. The unit contributes actively to research and the Biologics Interventions Register.
She pioneered 'care closer to home' in the community, delivering dermatology in GP surgeries and was involved in the government's pilot program in 1997. Several other departments in the country have since then followed this example from Hull. She also currently works alongside a GPwSI in dermatology at the Old Fire Station Practice, Beverley delivering a comprehensive dermatology service, including minor surgery, patch testing and phototherapy.
She has been involved in the training of future dermatologists including the ones currently in practice.
In 2016, she was awarded Honorary Professorship, by Hull York Medical School in recognition of her longstanding clinical career with a significant national and international teaching and research contribution in dermatology.
She is the principal investigator of several clinical studies in Hull as part of the research portfolio of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). It is an extremely rewarding role which gives her the opportunity to influence studies at an early stage of development.
As an active Board Member on two National Research committees:
- UKDCTN (UK Dermatology Clinical Trials network)
- BADBIR (British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register)
She provides a Clinician’s input into research proposals submitted for funding. She is also involved in data analysis of BADBIR patients with important outputs such as risk of serious infections, skin cancer and diabetes currently being collated for publication so patients can be better informed regarding risks on biologics.
She is currently serving on the editorial board of ‘Dermatologic Therapy.’
Her own research interests are in the field of Acne and Psoriasis and has authored several publications on these. She has 180 publications, including 4 books and several chapters in textbooks of Dermatology.