Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker, CFA, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Her research interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, psychology, and social science, with a focus on the translation and application of cutting-edge research to create content and contexts that support young people in flourishing.

A competitive tennis player since childhood, Dr. Walker knows first-hand the power of sport to embed life skills and mindsets that transfer into careers and embed wellness habits that foster health and holistic well-being across life. She knows that adults, through the relationships they form, can activate passion, possibility, and a sense of purpose in young people. Accordingly, her work is focused on parents, sport coaches, and teachers: adults who impact young lives during powerful developmental chapters when new learning is likeliest to last. While she loves working with adults, Dr. Walker is most inspired by working directly with young people, helping them activate and amplify their human potential in service of a healthy, happy, emotionally connected, purposeful life.

Dr. Walker received a B.S. in Finance at the University of Colorado, Boulder, was a research analyst and portfolio manager for an investment firm in Denver, earning a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. She then pivoted careers, earning a Ph.D. in Behavioral Genetics from the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at Kings College London. She serves on the board of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, is a trustee of the Kent Denver School, a member of the United States Tennis Association’s Sport Science Committee and on the Global Women’s Health Taskforce led by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Hologic. She lives in Denver, and her greatest pride and joy is being a mother to her three sons, Jack, Charlie, and Wyatt.