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Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty (born 21 April 1966) is a British
epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evid ...
serving as Chief Medical Officer for England (CMO) and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019. He has also been Gresham Professor of Physic since 2018. Whitty served as Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to the
Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwis ...
and Head of the
National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...
(NIHR) from 2016 to 2021. He was also the Acting Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2017 to 2018. Since March 2020, Whitty has played a key role in the response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...
, alongside Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. Whitty was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
(KCB) in the
2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
for services to public health.


Early life

Whitty was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, on 21 April 1966, the first of four sons born to Kenneth and Susannah Whitty. His father was a
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
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 The Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) is the most common name for the Palestinian nationalist militant group Fatah – The Revolutionary Council (''Fatah al-Majles al-Thawry''). The ANO is named after its founder Abu Nidal. It was created by a spli ...
, in 1984, when Whitty was 17. His mother was a teacher. His maternal uncle Sir Christopher MacRae was also a diplomat, and his grandmother Grace Summerhayes was a pioneering obstetrician in Africa, who set up the first maternity hospital in Ghana in 1928. Whitty was sent back to the UK for his schooling, where he attended Windlesham House School in Pulborough, West Sussex, and
Malvern College Malvern College is an independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school in the British sense of the term and is a member of the Rugby Group and of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses ...
, Worcestershire. He then studied at Pembroke College, Oxford ( BA in Physiology,
DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State C ...
in medical science),
Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research an ...
( BM BCh in Medicine, 1991, where he was also the founding chair of the National Postgraduate Committee), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( DTM&H in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1996;
MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MS ...
in Epidemiology, 1996), Northumbria University (
LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
in
Medical Law Medical law is the branch of law which concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of the patient. It should not be confused with medical jurisprudence, which is a branch of medicine, rather than a ...
, 2005),
Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
( MBA in Business Administration, 2010), and the Open University ( DipEcon in Economics).


Career

Whitty is a practising National Health Service (NHS) consultant physician at
University College London Hospitals University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...
(UCLH) and the
Hospital for Tropical Diseases The Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) is a specialist tropical disease hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College ...
, and Gresham Professor of Physic at Gresham College, a post dating back to 1597. Until becoming CMO he was Professor of Public and International Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) where he was also Director of the Malaria Centre. He worked as a physician and researcher into infectious diseases in the UK, Africa and Asia. In 2008 the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
awarded the LSHTM £31 million for malaria research in Africa. At the time, Whitty was the principal investigator for the ACT Consortium, which conducted the research programme.


Government roles

From 2009 to 2015, he was Chief Scientific Adviser and director of research for the Department for International Development (DFID). He led the Research and Evidence Division, which worked on health, agriculture, climate change, energy, infrastructure, economic and governance research. During this time, with co-authors Neil Ferguson and
Jeremy Farrar Sir Jeremy James Farrar (born 1 September 1961) is a British medical researcher who has served as director of the Wellcome Trust since 2013 and will serve as chief scientist at the World Health Organization in 2023. He was previously a professo ...
, he wrote an article in ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
'' titled "Infectious disease: Tough choices to reduce Ebola transmission", explaining the UK government's response to Ebola in support of the government of Sierra Leone, which he took a leading role in designing, including the proposal to build and support centres where people could self-isolate voluntarily if they suspected that they could have the disease. From January 2016 to August 2021 he was Chief Scientific Adviser to the
Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwis ...
, responsible for the department's research and development work, including being Head of the
National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...
(NIHR). From 2017 to 2018, he was also interim
Government Chief Scientific Adviser The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science. The Chief Scientific Adv ...
and head of the science and engineering profession in government. During this period
Novichok Novichok (russian: Новичо́к, lit=newcomer, novice, newbie) is a group of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Ru ...
, the military nerve agent, was responsible for the 2018 Salisbury poisonings, and Whitty chaired the government SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies) and advised COBR for the crisis. He was appointed Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England in 2019.


COVID-19 pandemic

Whitty and two of his deputies, Jenny Harries and Jonathan Van-Tam, took high-profile roles during the COVID-19 outbreak. This included appearing – often with prime minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance – in televised news conferences, and giving evidence to parliamentary bodies. From 19 March, Whitty appeared in
public information Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
adverts on national television, explaining the government's social-distancing strategy to reduce the spread of the virus during the pandemic. On 27 March, he was reported to be self-isolating owing to symptoms consistent with COVID-19 after
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
and Health Secretary Matt Hancock had tested positive for the virus. On 6 April, he had reportedly returned to work having recovered from the symptoms of the virus. In July, he told the Lords
Science and Technology Committee Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
that elimination of the disease in the UK would be very difficult, a view that was contested by other scientists including members of the
Independent SAGE The Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, better known as Independent SAGE, is a group of scientists, unaffiliated to government (although some are also in the government SAGE), that publishes advice aimed toward the UK governme ...
group. At a televised briefing on 12 October where the Prime Minister introduced three tiers of localised restrictions, Whitty said he was not confident that the measures in the highest tier would be "enough to get on top of it". Whitty and Vallance presented updated data and forecasts at a televised briefing on 31 October, where the Prime Minister announced stricter measures for the whole of England. During the outbreak,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
health editor
Hugh Pym Hugh Ruthven Pym (born 18 October 1959) is a British journalist and author. A financial and political journalist by origin, he currently works for BBC News as its health editor. Early life and education Hugh Pym was born on 18 October 1959 in ...
called him "the official who will probably have the greatest impact on our everyday lives of any individual policymaker in modern times". '' The Guardian''s sketch writer, John Crace, described him as "the Geek-in-Chief, whom everyone now regards as the country's de facto prime minister". At the same time, he was compared to James Niven, the Scottish physician known for reducing the death rate of influenza during the
1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
in Manchester. During the Christmas weekend of 2020, Whitty was spotted treating coronavirus patients in London. It was said he "worked the shifts in his capacity as a practising doctor sa consultant physician at University College London Hospitals Trust... on the north London hospital's respiratory ward over the weekend and bank holiday Monday". On 26 June 2021 a group of COVID-19 protesters demonstrated outside what appeared to be Whitty's flat in central London. Earlier in the month Whitty was followed down a street by a prominent anti-vaccine activist who shouted at him for being a "liar" and in February he was also called a "liar" multiple times while waiting for a takeaway lunch at a street food stall. On 27 June, Whitty was the subject of manhandling, described by Boris Johnson as "despicable harassment", by two members of the public in St James's Park, Westminster, who filmed the event for social media. The Health Secretary,
Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
, said such behaviour would not be tolerated and that those responsible "should be ashamed". The Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said they were "thugs" and should face charges. The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating the incident. On 2 July a 23-year-old man from Romford, East London was charged with common assault. The man had previously apologised for any "upset" caused and said he had lost his job as an estate agent over the incident. On 6 July a second man, aged 24 and of no fixed address, was charged with common assault and with obstructing the police. On 30 July a man who admitted one charge of assault by beating was given an eight-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and a fine of £100. The trial for a second man who pleaded not guilty to the same charge commenced in December 2021, with the accused appearing by video link from his home. The trial had to be vacated until 4 January 2022, however, as he was unable to see the CCTV evidence via the video link.


Awards and honours

Whitty was appointed
Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...
(CB) in the
2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
for public and voluntary service to Tropical Medicine in the UK and Africa. He is a fellow of the
Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...
. 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; and the 2017 Harveian Oration and the Milroy Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians. 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. Whitty was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
(KCB) in the
2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
for services to public health.


Personal life

Whitty is described by those familiar with him as a private person. He is single and has no children.


Selected publications

* *


References


Further reading

*


External links


Publications vie Google Scholar
CJM Whitty
Whitty, Prof. Christopher John Macrae
at ''
Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of not ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitty, Chris 1966 births Living people People educated at Windlesham House School People educated at Malvern College Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford Alumni of Northumbria University Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Alumni of the Open University Chief Medical Officers for England University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Alumni of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) British epidemiologists People from Gloucester