Professor Neil Thomas
Professor Neil Thomas is Director of the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) National Collaborative, and Chair of the National RSS Leadership Group. He provides strategic direction and oversight for the 8 national hubs and 3 public health and social care specialist centres that provide expert research design, methodological support, advice, and collaboration to all researchers in England throughout the pre- and post-application/research process, regardless of geographic location and research interest.
Neil is also Director of the NIHR RSS Hub led by the University of Birmingham, and led the NIHR Research Design Service West Midlands for over 10 years. He is Deputy Chair for the Health and Care Research Wales Integrated Funding scheme, the Health and Social Care services and Public Health Arm.
Neil completed his PhD (1999) in Hong Kong taking up academic roles there before relocating back to the UK in 2007. He received his personal chair at the University of Birmingham in 2016. He is Professor of Epidemiology and Research Methods with an extensive research portfolio in cardiometabolic disease epidemiology and management. He was co-Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Group in Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Management, Brazil, China, and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, for example, this led to the development of a 10,000 person cohort, changes in AF care pathways and development of the Centre for Digital Epidemiology and NIHR funding for the implementation of digitally integrated care pathways for multiple long term conditions management in primary care.