Chris Whitty
Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty KCB FRS (born 21 April 1966) is a British epidemiologist, serving as Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019.
This article is about the British physician and epidemiologist. For the American speed skater and cyclist, see Chris Witty.
SirChris Whitty
- Sir Jonathan Van-Tam (until 2022)
- Dame Jenny Harries (until 2021)
- Aidan Fowler
Physician and epidemiologist
Whitty was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and Head of the National Institute for Health and Care Research from 2016 to 2021. He was also the Acting Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2017 to 2018. He is emeritus Gresham Professor of Physic.
Since March 2020, Whitty has played a key role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, alongside Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. Whitty was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to public health.
Early life[edit]
Whitty was born in Gloucester on 21 April 1966, the first of four sons born to Kenneth and Susannah Whitty.[1][2][3][4] His father was a British Council officer, who was posted to various countries including Nigeria, where the family lived in Kaduna, and Malawi. While Deputy Director of the British Council in Athens, Kenneth Whitty was murdered by militants from the Abu Nidal Organisation,[5] in 1984, when Whitty was 17.[6] His mother was a teacher.[4][7][8] His maternal uncle Sir Christopher MacRae was also a diplomat,[9] and his grandmother Grace Summerhayes was a pioneering obstetrician in Africa,[2] who helped set up the first maternity hospital in Ghana in 1928.[6] His paternal grandfather John Whitty MC DSO was killed in World War II and his step grandfather was Sir George Coldstream.
Whitty was sent back to the UK for his schooling,[2] where he attended Windlesham House School in Pulborough, West Sussex, and Malvern College, Worcestershire. He then studied at Pembroke College, Oxford (BA in Physiology, DSc in medical science), Wolfson College, Oxford (BM BCh in Medicine, 1991, where he was also the founding chair of the National Postgraduate Committee[10]), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (DTM&H in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1996; MSc in Epidemiology, 1996), Northumbria University (LLM in Medical Law, 2005), Heriot-Watt University (MBA in Business Administration, 2010), and The Open University (DipEcon in Economics).[3][4]
Awards and honours[edit]
Whitty was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2015 New Year Honours for public and voluntary service to Tropical Medicine in the UK and Africa.[36] He is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.[12]
Public lectures outlining his views on tackling current challenges in medicine and public health include over 20 Gresham lectures on topics such as infectious diseases, public health, cancer, cardiovascular diseases;[12] and the 2017 Harveian Oration and the Milroy Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians.[4][12][13]
In September 2021, Whitty was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Plymouth in recognition of his support for the university's medical science research community.[37]
Whitty was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to public health.[38][39][40] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.[41] In 2023 he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society.[42]