Nick read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and subsequently undertook a PhD in the Department of Genetics. He started his postdoctoral career at the Hammersmith Hospital, London in 1987, where he developed an interest in chronic myeloid leukaemia under the mentorship of Prof John Goldman. In 2001 he took up Directorship of the Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Salisbury and Chair of Human Genetics at the University of Southampton. His research, which has resulted in more than 390 peer reviewed publications, focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies as well as the development, validation and standardisation of genetic tests.