Nicholas Robert Thomson

Professor Nicholas Robert Thomson is a globally recognized expert in bacterial genomics and evolution at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, where he serves as Head of the Parasites and Microbes Programme and Group Leader. He also holds a joint appointment as Professor of Bacterial Genomics and Evolution at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an honorary professorship at the University of St Andrews School of Medicine. His seminal work has redefined the evolutionary understanding of cholera, identifying the '7PET' lineage of Vibrio cholerae as responsible for all major epidemics since the 1960s.

Thomson earned his undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Microbial Technology from the University of Warwick in 1991, followed by a PhD in bacterial molecular biology from the same institution. He completed postdoctoral work at the University of Cambridge Biochemistry Department and L'Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) de Lyon, France, before joining the Sanger Institute in 1999 as a Senior Computer Biologist. He was promoted to Group Leader and faculty member in 2014 after serving as Principal Scientist.

His research focuses on bacterial evolutionary biology and population dynamics, particularly in pathogens causing diarrheal and sexually transmitted diseases. Thomson's laboratory uses genomic approaches to investigate how bacterial genome variation relates to hosts, changes over time and geography, or responds to therapeutic interventions. His work on cholera shifted focus from environmental sources to human-to-human transmission, opening new intervention opportunities. He also made significant contributions to understanding Shigella infections with macrolide resistance, informing UK guidelines for managing sexually transmitted enteritis.

Analysis of Thomson's recent publications reveals strong focus on genomic epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, and innovative surveillance approaches. His work spans cholera, Shigella, Salmonella, Klebsiella, and syphilis research, with increasing integration of machine learning and mobile data for outbreak tracking, as demonstrated during his pandemic work establishing SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Bangladesh.

Thomson is deeply committed to improving global health through long-term partnerships, equitable data sharing, and building research capacity in low and middle income countries. His laboratory has global policy influence, collaborating with the Pan-American Health Organization and WHO Global Taskforce for Cholera Control, where he serves on working groups and the Independent Review Panel for National Cholera Plans.

He leads the Thomson Group which specializes in accessing genome data directly from clinical samples without culture. His research approach emphasizes multidisciplinary teams combining scientists, modelers, and clinicians with global reach. The group's work directly informs public health interventions and has shaped current cholera control strategies worldwide.