Professor Sir Chris Whitty KCB HonFREng FRS FMedSci  

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England     

Professor Sir Chris Whitty is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, chief medical adviser to the UK government, alongside being an NHS consultant physician. As head of the public health profession, he has championed the centrality of engineering to public health including in air pollution, making indoor spaces safer during COVID-19, tackling human sewage in waterways, active transport, and ensuring the built environment is well designed for older people.  

Prior to becoming CMO he was interim government Chief Scientific Adviser and head of the government science and engineering profession, and head of the National Institute for Health Research. Before that, he was Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for International Development (DFID), where he led the research division and was involved in UK science contributions in transport, energy and climate change as well as humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries. Chris is an epidemiologist, and prior to joining government was Professor of Public and International Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He undertook clinical work and research into diseases of poverty in various countries in Africa and Asia.