David Nicholl is a Northern Irish neurologist, human rights activist, fundraiser for Amnesty International, and online columnist. 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. He is also a principal author of a reference work on neurological conditions Clinical Neurology CD-ROM .
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."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
In 2014, Nicholl signed a statement of support for Moazzam Begg, following Begg's arrest for allegations of supporting terrorism in the Syrian Civil WarStatement of support for Moazzam Begg, 2014, Cageprisoners in a case which subsequently collapsed.
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. He stood again in 2024, coming fourth.
References
External links Nicholl's online column