Professor John Whitehall is the Foundation Chair and Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at Western Sydney University. With a career spanning over five decades, Prof Whitehall brings a wealth of experience in general paediatrics, neonatology, and international child health. He graduated from Sydney University in 1966 and began his medical journey with humanitarian work in Vietnam, South Africa, and Rhodesia, before undertaking paediatric training in both England and Australia, earning Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP).

Career Highlights

• 15 years as Consultant Paediatrician in Western Sydney
• Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Townsville Hospital
• Chairman, Northern Region Women’s and Children’s Committee
• Associate Professor, James Cook University – taught Tropical Paediatrics and helped develop the university’s medical school
• Developed and led international paediatric teaching programs in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and Bangladesh
• Since 2009, Foundation Chair of Paediatrics and Child Health at Western Sydney University

Special Interests

Prof Whitehall is especially passionate about:

• Newborn medicine, including intensive and neonatal care
• Paediatrics in developing countries, with a long-standing interest in international health
• Developmental, emotional, behavioural, genetic, and general paediatric issues in children
• Clinician Performed Ultrasound (CPU) – he runs a weekly clinic at Campbelltown Hospital screening for cardiac abnormalities

Contributions and Recognition

• Finalist for Senior Australian of the Year (2006) for humanitarian work during the Asian tsunami
• Co-author of War and Medicine, a collection of stories from doctors in North-East Sri Lanka
• Awarded the Howard Williams Medal (2015) for outstanding contributions to paediatrics
• Regular contributor to Quadrant Magazine, exploring social and political themes
• Holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Social and Political Theory from Murdoch University