Professor Nick Beeching

Emeritus Professor of Tropical and Infectious Diseases

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
Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

    • Chrdle A, Tinavská P, Filipová P, Hnetilová V, Žampach P, Batistová K, Chmelík V, Dvořáčková O, Semper A,  Beeching NJ. Early diagnosis of tularemia by flow cytometry, Czech Republic, 2003-2015. Emerging Infectious Diseases Oct 2019; 25(10); 1919-1927 DOI: 10.321/eid2510.181875 https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2510.181875 [published on line 4 Sep 2019]

      Fletcher TE, Leblebicioglu H, Bozkurt I, Sunbul M, Bilek H, Asik Z, Barut S, GunesF, Gemici U, Hewson R, WilsonD, O’SheaMK, Woolley T, Faragher B, Parmar K, Lalloo DG, Beeching NJ, Hunt BJ. ROTEM thromboelastometry alongside conventional coagulation testing in patients with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: an observational cohort study. Lancet Infectious Diseases August 2019;19: 862–71 DOI http://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30112-4  pub online 28 Jun 2019

      Al-Abri SS, Hewson R, Al-Kindi H, Al-Abaidani I, Al-Jardani A, Al-Maani A, Almahrouqi S, Atkinson B, Al-Wahaibi A, Al-Rawahi B, Bawikar S, Beeching NJ. Clinical and molecular epidemiology of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Oman. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Apr 25 2019;13(4):e0007100. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007100. 

      McGill F, Griffiths MJ, Bonnett LJ, Geretti AM, Michael BD, Beeching NJ, McKee D, Scarlett P, Hart IJ, Mutton KJ, Jung A, Adan G, Gummery A, Sulaiman WAW, Ennis K, Martin AP, Haycox A, Miller A, Solomon T; UK Meningitis Study Investigators. Incidence, aetiology, and sequelae of viral meningitis in UK adults: a multicentre prospective observational cohort study. Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2018 Sep;18(9):992-1003  pub online29 Jun 2018   

      Eckerle I, Briciu VT, Ergönül Ö, Lupşe M, Papa A, Radulescu A, Tsiodras S, Tsitou C, Drosten C, Nussenblatt VR, Reusken CB, Sigfrid LA, Beeching NJ. Emerging souvenirs - clinical presentation of the returning traveller with imported arbovirus infections in Europe. Clinical Microbiology and Infection Mar 2018; 24(3): 240-245 pii: S1198-743X(18)30058-2. [Epub 12 Jan] 

      Riddle MS, Connor BA, Beeching NJ, DuPont HL, Hamer DH, Kozarsky P, Libman M, Steffen R, Taylor D, Tribble DR, Vila J, Zanger P, Ericsson CD. Guidelines for the prevention and treatment of travelers’ diarrhea: a graded expert panel report. Journal of Travel Medicine 2017; 24 (Suppl 1): S2-S19. Doi:

      Minetti C, Chalmers R, Beeching NJ, Probert C, Lamden K. Giardiasis. BMJ 2016; 355: (201-204) i5369 [On line 27 Oct 2016]  doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i5369

      Logan C, Beadsworth MBJ, Beeching NJ. HIV and diarrhoea – what is new? Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 2016; 29(5):486-94   PMID: 27472290  DOI: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000305  [Epub 28 Jul 2016 ahead of print]

      Thwaites CL, Beeching NJ, Newton CR. Maternal and neonatal tetanus. Lancet 2015; 385: 362-370   http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60236-1 [e published 20 Aug 2014 ahead of print]

      Beeching NJ, Fenech M, Houlihan CF. Ebola virus disease. BMJ 10 Dec 2014; 349:g7348 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g7348  http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.g7348

      Books

      Beeching NJ, Gill GV, (Eds) Lecture Notes: Tropical Medicine 7th edition 2014 (Wiley) 6th edition, 2009 and 5thedition, 2004 (8th edition due in 2021)

      Lorie J, Beeching NJ (Eds) The Traveller’s Healthbook 2nd edition, WEXAS International, London 2000

      Chapters and interactive e-modules

      Beeching NJ. Brucellosis. Chapter 164 in Eds, Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, Loscalzo J. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 20th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2018; 1192-1196 (and 4 previous editions)

      Aston SJ, Beeching NJ. Botulism. Chapter 60 in Eds Ryan ET, Hill DR, Solomon T, Aronson NE, Endy TP. Hunter’s Textbook of Tropical Medicine 10th Edition, Elsevier 2020; pp 551-554

      Beeching NJ, Fletcher TE, Fowler R. COVID-19. BMJ Best Practice Feb 2020 

      Beeching NJ, Gerada A, Thomas S. Brucellosis. BMJ Best Practice May 2019  

      Cottle LE, Beeching NJ, Carrol ED, Parry CM. Tetanus infection. BMJ Best Practice Apr 2019 tbc

      Beeching NJ, Fenech M, Fletcher TE, Houlihan CF. Ebola virus infection. BMJ Best Practice. 30 May 2018  and US version 

      For current listing of research and review articles see Scopus (H index=42), PubMed and Google Scholar (H index=54)

      For general public

      Beeching N, Miller A, Ford L “Essential medical kit for the traveller” (p635-636), “Day-to-day health abroad” (638-647); Miller A, Beeching N  “Health on the flight” (636-638); Miller A, Beeching N, Ford L “Health planning and precautions before you go” (627-634),  “Health on your return” (647-648), “Vaccinations required” (649-652) In Eds Lorie J, Sohanpaul A, Williams JI The Traveller’s Handbook, 12th edition, WEXAS: London 2009

      Quarterly articles (with Carolyn Driver) on travel health for non medical public in Traveller (WEXAS, London)