Professor Chris Whitty, the Government’s Chief Medical Advisor, has received an honorary doctorate of science from Northumbria University in recognition of his clinical and academic contributions and leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
An alumnus of Northumbria University, Professor Whitty is a globally recognised physician and epidemiologist and has become one of the country’s most trusted figures on the pandemic following his numerous Downing Street briefings.
He studied for the LLM in Medical Law at Northumbria University, graduating in 2005.
Prof Whitty said: “It is a real privilege to be awarded an honorary degree from Northumbria University.
“Congratulations to all the students graduating today.”
Alongside his role as Chief Medical Officer for England and head of the public health profession, Prof Whitty is a practicing NHS Consultant Physician at University College London Hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and Gresham Professor of Physic at Gresham College.
As an epidemiologist, he has undertaken research in the UK, Africa and Asia and was Professor of Public and International Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Director of the Malaria Centre.
A year later he was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for International Development where he led on the UK’s technical response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and other international emergencies.
Professor Whitty went on to become the interim Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2017 – 2018, during the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury.
Professor Whitty was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List, for services to Tropical Medicine in the UK and Africa.
Earlier this year, he was knighted for the role he played at the forefront of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
While at Northumbria University, Prof Whitty met with staff across a range of disciplines to find out more about how the university is planning to create a Centre for Health and Social Equity to build on leading work and ambitions in these areas.
He visited Northumbria’s state-of-the-art DNA and genome sequencing facility, to see first-hand the work of the research team who formed part of the government-backed Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium.
Prof Whitty said: “It is a great university with a strong commitment to research and training future healthcare workers.”
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