Professor John AthertonNon-Executive Director
John joined the Board of UHB in February 2023, following five years as a NED and Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
He trained as a doctor in centres across the UK including Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Newcastle, Salisbury, Southampton and Nottingham, then worked as a gastroenterologist in University Hospitals Nottingham from 1991 until his retirement in 2022. During this time, he also worked as a Professor in the University of Nottingham. Early in his career, he developed a particular interest in Helicobacter (H. pylori) infections and completed a two-year research fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Back in Nottingham, alongside his clinical work, he ran an active research programme and taught widely, becoming the Dean of Medicine and ultimately Pro Vice-Chancellor for Medicine, Health and Life Sciences. In this role he was responsible for the education of nurses, doctors, allied health professionals and biological scientists and led medical and life sciences research across the university. He remains an Emeritus Professor.
John has held various regional, national and international roles. These have included chairing Midlands Health innovation, which co-ordinates research across the Midlands; chairing Medical Schools Council UK, which included leading UK medical schools through the covid crisis; and being Secretary-General of United European Gastroenterology, which co-ordinates education, research and clinical standards across Europe.
His particular interests and ambitions are to improve the quality of care for patients, to address health inequalities and to promote the environmental sustainability agenda.