Sir Chris WhittyRegulator

Biography

Professor Sir Chris Whitty KCB FRS is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, the UK government's Chief Medical Adviser, and head of the public health profession, a post he has held since October 2019. He is also a practising NHS Consultant Physician at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he was previously Professor of Public and International Health and Director of the Malaria Centre. Before becoming CMO, he served as Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care and head of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) from 2016 to 2021, and as interim Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2017 to 2018. He co-chaired the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic alongside Sir Patrick Vallance, and was a prominent public face of the government's pandemic response. He has published annual CMO reports on subjects including health in an ageing society, health in cities, air pollution, and infections, and is known for advocating action on health inequalities, preventable disease in older adults, and the public health benefits of active travel.

References

1. 1.Professor Chris Whitty – GOV.UK — Current role, organisation, career history, annual reports list, and interim Permanent Secretary tenure
2. 2.Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FMedSci FRS – Royal Society Fellow — Fellowship of the Royal Society, clinical epidemiologist background, malaria research and LSHTM Malaria Centre directorship
3. 3.The UK response to COVID-19: use of scientific advice – House of Commons Science and Technology Committee — Co-chairing of SAGE with Patrick Vallance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
4. 4.Sightsavers trustee Sir Chris Whitty knighted in New Year Honours — Knighthood (KCB) in 2022 New Year Honours for services to public health; Sightsavers trustee since 2017
5. 5.Chris Whitty to be honoured for steering nation through Covid pandemic

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Elderly care & frailty

Stated areas of expertise

• Infectious disease and epidemiology
• Public health policy
• Health inequalities
• Healthy ageing
• Global health
• Active travel and built environment

Notable achievements

• Appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to public health, recognising his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source ↗
• Co-chaired SAGE throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, providing scientific advice to government. Source ↗
• Published six CMO annual reports covering infections (2025), health in cities (2024), health in an ageing society (2023), air pollution (2022), health in coastal communities (2021), and health trends and variation in England (2020). Source ↗
• Previously received the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 2015 for services to tropical medicine in the UK and Africa, including his role in drawing up the government's response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Source ↗
• Served as interim Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care from December 2024 to June 2025. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Stand back from the day to day, he said, and the extraordinary leaps forward enabled by vaccinations and other advances in treatment and public health come into focus.”

  Chief medical officer for England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · The Guardian view on cancer survival rates: there is good news about healthcare amid the gloom | Editorial ↗

• “Prof Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer and an infectious disease specialist, often points out that the bigger public health crisis today is one of inequality and the toll of long-term, chronic illness.”

  England's chief medical officer and an infectious disease specialist · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · The Guardian view on meningitis in Kent: we must not take public health systems for granted | Editorial ↗

• “Whilst we are very systematic about reducing infections and preventing infections in children and in young adults, in older adults it's often a lot more hit and miss.”

  Chief Medical Officer for England · Elderly care & frailty · 27 Aug 2026 · Preventing infections in older people is hit and miss, says England’s chief medic ↗

• “Cooper said that she had discussed a public health awareness campaign with the chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, warning people to look out for elderly relatives and those with young babies to ensure they were coping in the heat.”

Source references

1. The Guardian view on cancer survival rates: there is good news about healthcare amid the gloom | Editorialtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. The Guardian view on meningitis in Kent: we must not take public health systems for granted | Editorialtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Preventing infections in older people is hit and miss, says England’s chief medictheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. NHS must prepare for annual summer heat pressures, says Yvette Coopertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.gov.uk/government/people/christopher-whitty
• Xhttps://x.com/CMO_England

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.