David Nicholl (neurologist)

Northern Irish doctor

David Nicholl is a neurologist, human rights activist, fundraiser for Amnesty International, and online columnist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] In March 2006 he initiated a letter in the medical journal The Lancet, signed by more than 250 medical experts, urging the United States to stop force-feeding at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and close down the prison camp.[2] He is also a principal author of a reference work on neurological conditions [3]

Nicholl holds the position of consultant neurologist at City Hospital & Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and is honorary senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham.

Nicholl is a specialist in Parkinson's disease, and is best known scientifically for his participation in the project for cloning a gene, PARK8, linked with at least one form of the disease.[4]

In 2014, Nicholl signed a statement of support for Moazzam Begg, following Begg's arrest for allegations of supporting terrorism in the Syrian Civil War[5] in a case which subsequently collapsed.[6][7]

He stood for the Liberal Democrats in Bromsgrove at the 2019 general election. He got 6,779 votes (12.5%), and lost to the Conservative candidate Sajid Javid.[8][9]

## References

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1. ^ "Dr David Nicholl at The Stirrer". thestirrer.thebirminghampress.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
2. ^ "Guantanamo medics 'fail patients'". 7 September 2007 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
3. ^ Clinical Neurology CD-ROM Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine.
4. ^ "Cloning of the gene containing mutations that cause PARK8-linked Parkinson's disease" by Paisan-Ruiz C, Jain S, Evans EW, Gilks WP, Simon J, van der Brug M, de Munain AL, Aparicio S, Gil AM, Khan N, Johnson J, Martinez JR, Nicholl D, Carrera IM, Pena AS, de Silva R, Lees A, Marti-Masso JF, Perez-Tur J, Wood NW, Singleton AB. Neurology 44(4):595-600 2004
5. ^ Statement of support for Moazzam Begg, 2014, Cageprisoners
6. ^ Cobain, Ian (1 October 2014). "Moazzam Begg freed after terrorism case against him collapses". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
7. ^ Cobain, Ian; Ramesh, Randeep (3 October 2014). "Moazzam Begg complains of 'malicious' and 'vindictive' detention". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
8. ^ "Dr David Nicholl Lib Dem PPC for Bromsgrove (@djnicholl) | Twitter". twitter.com.
9. ^ "Doctor smeared by Jacob Rees-Mogg to stand for the Liberal Democrats". Mark Pack. 27 September 2019.

## External links

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* Nicholl's online column