Speaker

Professor Chris Whitty is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, the UK Government’s Chief Medical Adviser, and head of the public health profession.

He is a practising NHS Consultant Physician at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, as well as a Visiting Professor at Gresham College. An epidemiologist by background, Chris has carried out extensive research and clinical work in the UK, Africa, and Asia. Before becoming CMO, he was Professor of Public and International Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where he now holds an honorary professorship.

From December 2024 to June 2025, Chris served as interim Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Prior to that, he was the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from January 2016 to August 2021, overseeing research and development and serving as head of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the government’s principal funder of clinical, public health, social care, and translational research.

He also served as interim Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2017 to 2018, during which he played a key role in the government’s response to the Novichok poisonings. Earlier in his career, he was Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for International Development (DFID), where he led technical work on major global health challenges, including the West Africa Ebola outbreak and other international health emergencies.