Professor John Atherton was recently appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and was previously Dean of the School of Medicine. He was the Founding Director of the NDD BRU and remains a Co-Director.

John has a distinguished background in clinical and laboratory research in the upper gastro-intestinal area with a particular interest in the stomach bacterium, Helicobacter pylori. He is also a practising Clinical Gastroenterologist. His laboratory research is predominantly based in the Centre for Biomolecular Science (CBS) on Park campus, which houses the specialist laboratory facilities needed for this type of research. Dr Karen Robinson (Associate Professor) and Dr Rob Delahay (Assistant Professor), both non-clinical scientists, lead teams within the research group.

John is also Secretary-General of United European Gastroenterology, the organisation responsible for gastroenterology in Europe, and is a member of the Medical Research Council Clinical Training Programme and Career Development Panel.