Dr. Whiteside is an MD and PhD graduate of the University of Toronto and FRCP(C) in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. From 1985 to 2005 she was a staff nephrologist at the University Health Network, Toronto, and clinician-scientist in the Department of Medicine. From 2000 to 2005 she was Associate Dean Graduate and Inter-Faculty Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine and from 2006 to 2014 Dean of Medicine and Vice Provost Relations with Health Care Institutions at the University of Toronto. In 2012 she was recognized with WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Award.
Dr. Whiteside was awarded in 2007 the Medal for Research Excellence from the Kidney Foundation of Canada.  She is the recipient of the Canadian Medical Association 2009 May Cohen Award for Women Mentors. In 2015 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in the College of Family Physicians of Canada and in 2016 received the OMA’s Advocate for Students and Residents Award. 
She is a founding member and past President of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, currently serves as a Director on the Board of The Scarborough Hospital Foundation and is Chair of the Board of the Banting Research Foundation. In 2016, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada. Dr. Whiteside now holds the position of Executive Director of the Strategic Patient-Oriented Research Network in Diabetes and Related Complications.