Dr. Walton is a research scientist and teacher with a PhD in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University (1970). He was Postdoctoral Fellow in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (Mentor: Dr. Paul Greengard, Yale University School of Medicine, 1971–1973, and Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychobiology, Harvard Medical School (Mentor: Dr. Ross Baldessarini, 1974–1976). He has held positions as Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (1977–1979); Faculty/researcher, Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physiology and Health, Maharishi International University (1980–present); and has published approximately 75 research papers and abstracts. Currently, he is Senior Investigator, MIU Institute for Prevention Research, Fairfield, Iowa (2019–present). Current research focuses on the biological effects of stress and how these are affected by Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice. Recent studies include transcriptional, cognitive, and hormonal effects of TM in preventing disease and aging. These studies cover investigations of "consciousness as a field" and "higher states of consciousness".