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Rupert Whitaker

British psychiatrist and advocate

Rupert Edward David Whitaker (born 1963) is a British psychiatrist, immunologist, and patient advocate. He is one of Europe's longest-surviving people with HIV, having contracted the disease in 1981.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Rupert Whitaker (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born 1963.1

About

Following the death of his partner, Terrence Higgins, from AIDS in 1982, he co-founded the Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity set up to provide services for people with HIV. In 2007, he founded the Tuke Institute, an international organisation researching the health-effectiveness of medical services.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rupert Whitaker, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • 1982 to 1984University of London Bachelor of Science3
  • 1987 to 1988Boston University3
  • 1990 to 1992University of Michigan Medical School3
  • 1992 to 1993University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine3
  • Date not recordedUniversity of Toronto3
  • Date not recordedDurham University3
  • Date not recordedUniversity of Michigan3
  • Date not recordedLord Wandsworth College3

Whitaker came out as gay in 1978. He left Lord Wandsworth College in Long Sutton, Hampshire in 1980, aged 17. In 1981, he matriculated at the College of St Hild and St Bede at Durham University to study philosophy and psychology, and during this period his partner Terry Higgins became one of the first people to die from AIDS in the UK. Whitaker became ill and transferred to the University of London, and was not expected to live longer than 12 months.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rupert Whitaker (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: HIV/AIDS activist, psychiatrist.5

Personal life

In 1993, following his third post-doctoral fellowship, Whitaker was diagnosed with AIDS at the age of 30. Shortly afterwards he had a stroke, which left him with visual, communicative, cognitive, and mobility problems. This required brain surgery that left him with epilepsy. This was followed by a number of years of intensive rehabilitation. In 2006, he was again given less than six months to live because of medications for HIV interacting with his stroke-associated brain-injury, which was misdiagnosed for two years. Due to his extensive experience of health services during this time, including a number of episodes of malpractice, he founded the Tuke Institute in 2007.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rupert Whitaker (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 2022Officer of the Order of the British Empire6 7

Sources

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