Upshall (pictured) joins the business from Kantar Health, where she held the role of research manager.

At Walnut, Upshall will develop the business within healthcare and work closely with sister company, health consultancy and communications agency Health Unlimited. She will report to research director Amy Nichols.

Jane Rudling, managing director of Walnut Unlimited, said: “Our presence in healthcare is already strong and the addition of a health research specialist, backed by the support of our sister agency, Health Unlimited, is the next logical move. This is an important step to a robust and competitive stance in the world of health research and to build our human understanding proposition into more areas of insight.”