Appointments
- Consultant in Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Tropical and Infectious Disease Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital
- Senior Lecturer (Clinical) in Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of Liverpool
- Honorary Consultant, Public Health England
- Honorary Civilian Consultant Adviser in Infectious Diseases, Army Medical Directorate
Background
Undergraduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford led to a BA in Physiological Sciences before clinical medical school which included an elective at St John’s Medical College, Bangalore. Subsequent clinical training posts included Oxford, LSTM, Adelaide, Birmingham, Riyadh and Auckland. Nick was a consultant physician in Khamis Mushayt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for 2 years before taking up his first posts in Liverpool in 1987. He was appointed to a new NHS funded Senior Lectureship, established to strengthen links between the Regional Infectious Disease Unit (then at Fazakerley Hospital) and the LSTM. The success of this underpinned the move of the Regional Unit to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in late 2001. Since partial retirement in 2018 he has reduced his clinical activities to supporting several specialist areas of practice. He is still actively involved in teaching and training activities, including supervision of postgraduate research students and he maintains links with colleagues overseas, particularly in South Asia and in the Middle East, to continue research projects and to enable training exchanges and placements.
Teaching and training
Long-standing interest in postgraduate medical education, including curriculum development and specialist examinations at national and international level. He delivers numerous lectures and interactive teaching sessions a year on DTM&H and other courses and conferences in LSTM and in the North West, nationally and internationally. Particular interest in delivery of clinical and epidemiological case studies using interactive keypads, and introducing undergraduates to tropical medicine.
Current positions
- Chair, Student Elective Committee, School of Medicine, University of Liverpool
- Liverpool lead, National Imported Fever Service
- Co-director, GeoSentinel Site, LSTM
- Chair, European Specialist Certificate Examination Board, UEMS Section and Board of Infectious Diseases (former Chair, European Board of Infectious Diseases)
- Chair, Standard Setting Group, Combined Infection Certificate Examination (CICE), Royal College of Pathologists; (former Infectious Disease lead, CICE and former Chair of Specialist Certificate Examination in Infectious Diseases, Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians and British Infection Association)
- Member, Emerging Infections Task Force (EITaF) and European Study Group on Infections in Travellers and Migrants (ESGITM) (founding Council member), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID)
- Member, Technical Advisory Group, National Travel Health Network & Centre (NaTHNaC) (former founding Chair, Steering Committee)
- Clinical Consultant for National Brucellosis Reference Unit, Liverpool Clinical Laboratories
- Leprosy Specialist, North of England
Selected previous positions
- Infectious Disease expert, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) groups producing NICE Guideline (NG95) Lyme disease (2018) and NICE Quality Standard (QS186) Lyme disease (2019)
- Associate International Director (South Asia), Royal College of Physicians of London
- President and other Council positions, British Infection Society
- Programme Director, Infectious Diseases, Mersey Deanery School of Medicine
- Clinical Director, Tropical and Infectious Disease Unit, Liverpool
- Chair, Infection Control Committee, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Hon Librarian and Trustee, Liverpool Medical Institution (former Vice President)
Research
- Co-lead, Clinical Theme, NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (University of Liverpool, with PHE and LSTM (to 2020)
- Theme Leader and member of Scientific Training Group, NIHR funded Biomedical Research Centre in Microbial Disease, RLBUH NHS Trust (with University of Liverpool & LSTM) (to 2012)
- Numerous course and conference scientific committees
Editorial Boards
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
Recent & current PhD/MD students
- Dr Wail Bajhmoum, PhD (2015) Studies on HIV in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Ms Sarah Brun Bar-Yaacov, PhD (2018) Using label-free proteomics to elucidate factors involved in the human response to orthohantavirus infection
- Dr TE Fletcher, PhD (2019) Pathogenesis of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) - interaction of immune response, viral load and clinical course
- Mr Greg Joyner, PhD (2019) Host-derived markers of Lyme disease and other spirochaetal infections: their discovery and diagnostic potential
- Dr Jason Biswas, MD (current) Pre and post deployment screening for infection in military personnel
- Mr Romeo Toriro PhD (current) Gastrointestinal disease epidemiology, burden and control within the context of a contemporary military operational environment