Malcolm Macleod is Professor in Neurology and Translational Neuroscience at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh. After training in Internal Medicine his PhD concerned the neuroprotective actions of FK506 and post-doctoral work in the Seckl lab defined a neuroprotective role for increased expression of the mineralocorticoid receptor. During a pivotal sabbatical year with Donnan at the National Stroke Research Institute in Melbourne he began an involvement with stroke clinical trials, and it was in an effort to identify suitable drugs for such clinical trials that he began to develop techniques to allow the systematic review and meta-analysis of data from animal studies.

In 2004 he founded, with Howells, the Collaborative Approach to Meta-analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADES, www.camarades.info). This approach has proved fruitful both in highlighting problems with in vivo research and in providing evidence for clinical trial design. He was an author in the Lancet series on increasing value and reducing waste in biomedical research, and current work focusses on developing and evaluating strategies for research improvement. He is a member of the UK Commission for Human Medicines and chairs the Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group. He serves on the UK Reproducibility Network Steering Committee and is Academic Coordinator of the European Quality In Preclinical Data (EQIPD) Innovative Medicines Initiative project.

As the University's Academic Lead for Research Improvement and Research Integrity he is co-chair of the Research Ethics and Integrity Review Group (REIRG), and led the 2020 University of Edinburgh Research Culture Survey