He is a member of the board of the Mental Health Network in the NHS Confederation and was a non-executive director of Hampshire Partnership Trust from 1999-2004. He is also on the Council of University College London, where he trained in psychology and medicine in the 1970's, and on the board of Depression Alliance.
Chris was appointed as chair of the department of psychiatry in the University of Southampton in 1988. As an academic he has written about 100 peer reviewed articles, largely on depression and related subjects. He was appointed Head of the School of Medicine in 2001, also representing the school on the Council of Heads of Medical Schools and the General Medical Council. In 1998 he founded the International Society for Affective Disorders.
He was the Registrar and a Vice President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 1993 to 1999. He chaired the steering group of the Confidential Enquiry and led the CSAG enquiry into the care of depression in general practice. Chris won the Gold Medal of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1983. He holds an honorary FRCP and an honorary MRCGP. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an alumnus of the Windsor Leadership Trust.
Chris is married to Celia, a GP, and has three adult daughters. In his spare time he plays guitar and golf, and hangs out with his friends. He enjoys reading British and European History and popular science books.