Professor Whitworth is the Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research and Howard Florey Professor of Medical Research at the Australian National University in Canberra and heads the High Blood Pressure Research Unit. Professor Whitworth is an Ambassador for Canberra and an Ambassador for Women. She was Telstra ACT Business Woman of the Year in 2002 and 2004 ACT Australian of the Year.
Professor Whitworth graduated MBBS from the University of Melbourne in 1967, MD in 1974, PhD in 1978 and DSc in 1992. The University of Sydney awarded her an MD (Honoris Causa) in 2004, and in 2005 she was awarded an MD (Honoris Causa) by the University of New South Wales. Professor Whitworth is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has practiced medicine and researched extensively in Australia and overseas; she chaired the Medical Research Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and is a Past-President of the Australian Society for Medical Research, and the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia. She is chair of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Health Research (2004-2007) and a member of the Global Forum for Health Research.
Professor Whitworth's previous appointments were Australia's Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Medicine at St George Hospital, University of New South Wales.
She was made a Companion in the Order of Australia in 2001 for service to the advancement of academic medicine and as a major contributor to research policy and medical research administration in Australia and internationally.