Chris van Tulleken
{{Short description|British physician and television presenter}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific-prefix = Jonkheer
| name = Chris van Tulleken
| birth_name = Christoffer van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1978|8|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, England
| education = King's College School, Wimbledon
| alma_mater = St Peter's College, Oxford
| television = Operation Ouch!
| children = 2
}}
Christoffer Rodolphe van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken (born 18 August 1978),{{cite press release |title=The British Team |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/07_july/25/pole_british.shtml |access-date=12 January 2013 |series=Blizzard: Race To The Pole |publisher=BBC Press Office}} known as Dr. Chris, is a British physician, television presenter, and identical twin brother of Alexander "Xand" van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken.{{cite web |title=About Chris |url=http://www.vantullekenbrothers.com/chris/ |access-date=3 September 2016 |publisher=Van Tulleken Brothers}}{{cite web |title=Chris van Tulleken |url=http://roarglobal.com/clients/profile/chris-van-tulleken |access-date=1 June 2013 |publisher=Roar Global}} Van Tulleken became well known for his two-part television special for BBC One entitled The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs (2018).{{cite web |title=The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07w52tp |access-date=18 January 2018 |publisher=BBC One}}{{cite news |last=Hogan |first=Michael |date=15 September 2016 |title=The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs was an eye-opening insight into our pill-popping culture |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/09/15/the-doctor-who-gave-up-drugs-was-an-eye-opening-insight-into-our/ |access-date=18 January 2018 |work=The Telegraph}} He is the author of Ultra-Processed People (2023). The Van Tulleken brothers are best known for presenting the children's series Operation Ouch! (2013).{{cite web |title=Operation Ouch! |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/operation-ouch |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=CBBC}}{{cite web |title=Operation Ouch! Hardback |url=http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780349001807&guni=other:factbox%20$factbox.type.toString().toLowerCase():Position3 |access-date=1 June 2013 |publisher=The Guardian Bookshop}}
Early life and education
Chris van Tulleken was born to Anthony van Tulleken, an industrial designer, and his wife Kit, a publisher.{{cite web |last=Agostino |first=Josephine |date=16 January 2020 |title=24 surprising facts about the Operation Ouch stars |url=https://www.kidspot.com.au/lifestyle/entertainment/books-tv-and-movies/24-surprising-facts-about-the-operation-ouch-stars/news-story/7d0c85eb99949321bb034c3070a55577 |access-date=17 October 2020 |publisher=Kidspot}} Their younger brother is the film director Jonathan van Tulleken.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
They are descended from Dutch Rear-Admiral Jan van Hoogenhouck Tulleken (1762–1851), originally Jan Tulleken, of a family traced back to the 15th century, who changed his name in 1822 and was raised to the nobility in 1842 with the rank of Jonkheer, the lowest tier of nobility.Nederland's Adelsboek, 95th edition, Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, 2010, pp. 393-404 The family name is officially without a hyphen, and in the Netherlands, use of the name "van Tulleken" is considered wrong, as the "van" belongs to the name Hoogenhouck.{{cn|date=June 2024}}
Van Tulleken was educated at Hill House preparatory school, then King's College School, an independent day school for boys in Wimbledon, southwest London, followed by St Peter's College at the University of Oxfordhttps://www.some.ox.ac.uk/eminent/xand-van-tulleken/
In June 2023, van Tulleken and his brother Xand were the subjects of the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, in which they learned that they were descended from a wealthy slave-trader who had a plantation in Demerara in The Guianas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001nbhz/who-do-you-think-you-are-series-20-5-chris-and-xand-van-tulleken|title=Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 20: 5. Chris and Xand van Tulleken|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}
TV career
Van Tulleken and his twin presented Channel 4's Medicine Men Go Wild,{{cite web |title=Medicine Men Go Wild |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/medicine-men-go-wild |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=Channel 4}} CBBC's Operation Ouch! and BBC Two's Trust Me, I'm A Doctor alongside Michael Mosley.{{cite web |title=Trust Me, I'm A Doctor |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01dgd9c |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC Two}} Van Tulleken was the expedition doctor for BBC Two's Operation Iceberg,{{cite web |title=Operation Iceberg |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00tvcnx |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC Two}} and has appeared in Top Dogs: Adventures in War, Sea and Ice (BBC 2),{{cite web |title=Top Dogs; Adventures in War, Ice, and Sea |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jjqbr |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC Two}} Holiday Hit Squad (BBC One),{{cite web |title=Holiday Hit Squad |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qmzgl |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC One}} Museum of Life (BBC Two),{{cite web |title=Museum of Life |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rp1w0 |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC Two}} The Secret Life of Twins (BBC One),{{cite web |title=The Secret Life of Twins |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n6yyz |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC One}} as well as Celebrity Mastermind and The Wright Stuff.{{cn|date=September 2024}} He was also doctor to a team led by Bruce Parry which recreated the 1911 race to the South Pole in the BBC documentary Blizzard: Race to the Pole.{{cite web |title=Blizzard: Race to the Pole |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/07_july/25/pole.shtml |access-date=12 January 2013 |publisher=BBC}} The twins presented What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special.{{cite web |date=19 December 2014 |title=What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02flxvc |access-date=14 January 2015 |series=Horizon |publisher=BBC}}
Van Tulleken was named as an emerging British talent in "The Brit List 2013" by ShortList magazine.{{cite web |title=The Brit List 2013 |url=http://www.shortlist.com/home/the-brit-list-2013#gallery-item-15 |access-date=1 June 2013 |website=ShortList}}
In 2015, the twins presented another Horizon episode, titled Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?, in which they tested the effects of different levels of drinking alcohol, with van Tulleken drinking moderate amounts daily, and twin brother Xand bingeing weekly.{{cite episode |title=Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad? |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05wdfhk |access-date=8 June 2015 |series=Horizon |series-link=Horizon (BBC TV series) |last=Todd |first=Sophie |network=BBC |station=BBC Two |date=20 May 2015 |series-no=51 |number=11 |location=London}}
He appeared with his twin on Series 5 of Hacker Time.{{cite web |date=18 April 2016 |title=BBC iPlayer |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/schedules/cbbc/20150803 |series=CBBC Channel Schedule |publisher=BBC}}
In 2016, alarmed by the steep rise in prescription medicine in Britain and dubious as to its efficacy, van Tulleken was featured in the BBC One television show The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs. In the two-part social experiment, he took over part of a GP surgery and attempted to find practical ways to treat patients and stop patients' prescription pills.{{cite episode |title=The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs, 15 September 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVCFDAkMFo |access-date=2018-01-18 |series=The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs |last=Sheffield |first=Michael |network=BBC |station=BBC One |date=2016-09-26 |season=1 |number=1 |via=YouTube |type=video documentary |df=dmy-all |mode=cs2}}
In January and February 2019, they presented a documentary series called The Twinstitute, repeated in 2020.{{cite web |date=4 December 2018 |title=What time is The Twinstitute on TV? What's it about and how does it work? |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-12-04/the-twinstitute-air-date-bbc2-chris-xand-van-tulleken/ |access-date=26 December 2018 |website=Radio Times}}
In Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me, after contracting COVID-19, Xand was left with an irregular heartbeat.{{cite web |last=Mangan |first=Lucy |date=5 August 2020 |title=Surviving the Virus: My Brother and Me review – a rigorous dispatch from the Covid frontline |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/aug/05/surviving-the-virus-my-brother-and-me-review-a-rigorous-dispatch-from-the-covid-frontline |access-date=11 June 2024 |website=The Guardian}}{{cite web |date=6 August 2020 |title=BBC viewers sob as doctor recovering from covid has heart restarted |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/bbc-surviving-virus-viewers-sob-18724714 |website=Manchester Evening News}}
In 2023, Chris published the book Ultra-Processed People.{{Cite news |last=Gersen |first=Jacob E. |date=2023-07-07 |title=If We Are What We Eat, We Don't Know Who We Are |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/books/review/ultra-processed-people-chris-van-tulleken.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
In 2024, Chris was the lecturer for the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, entitled The Truth About Food. Xand also appeared in the first lecture, while their father Anthony demonstrated a chocolate-powered engine in the second lecture.{{cite web |title=The 2024 CHRISTMAS LECTURES |url=https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/2024-christmas-lectures |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=Royal Institution}}
Personal life
Van Tulleken's wife Dinah gave birth to a second daughter in June 2020.{{Cite news |last=Mangan |first=Lucy |date=5 August 2020 |title=Surviving the Virus: My Brother and Me review – a rigorous dispatch from the Covid frontline |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/aug/05/surviving-the-virus-my-brother-and-me-review-a-rigorous-dispatch-from-the-covid-frontline |newspaper=The Guardian}}
Humanitarian aid
Until February 2018, van Tulleken was a patron and board member of the medical aid and healthcare charity Doctors of the World UK,{{cite web |author=Doctors of the World UK |date=21 April 2015 |title=Van Tulleken brothers running for DOTW in the London Marathon |url=http://doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/blog/entry/the-van-tulleken-brothers-running-for-dotw-in-the-london-marathon |access-date=18 April 2016 |website=Doctors of the World |publisher=Doctors of the World UK}} which is a member of the international Médecins du Monde network. In 2015, he ran the London Marathon for Doctors of the World, raising over £3,400.{{cite web |title=Dr. Chris & Dr. Xand van Tulleken |url=https://run-for-dotw.everydayhero.com/uk/dr-chris-dr-xand-van-tulleken |website=run-for-dotw.everydayhero.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:People educated at King's College School, London
Category:Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford
Category:British television personalities