Rate My Professor Nick Douglas

Dr. Nick Douglas is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine (Christchurch) at the University of Otago. He obtained his BMedSc (Hons) in 2004 and MBChB in 2006 from the University of Otago, an MSc in 2008 and DPhil in 2013 from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar—where his doctoral research examined malaria epidemiology in the Papua population—and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2020. Douglas completed his medical training at the University of Otago Christchurch, pursued postgraduate studies funded by the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, and has held clinical appointments including at Royal Darwin Hospital. Currently, he serves as Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at Christchurch Hospital, Te Whatu Ora Waitaha, and Senior Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, Australia. In 2025, he was awarded Best Module Convenor for 5th-year medicine by students and received an Accelerator Grant for research on cefazolin excretion.

Douglas's research specializations encompass infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on malaria—antirelapse therapy for Plasmodium vivax infection, primaquine safety, G6PD-related hemolysis, and patient identification via biometrics—leprosy diagnostics and treatment enhancement using CRISPR and rifamycins in Pacific Islands such as Kiribati and Papua, invasive bacterial infection diagnostics, antibiotic prescribing optimization, and medical epidemiology. He co-convenes the Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases module for MICN 401, Advanced Medicine module for MICN 501, and Medicine module for MICN 601. Key leadership roles include Deputy Chair of the Aotearoa New Zealand RACP Advanced Training Committee for Infectious Diseases, committee member of the Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases New Zealand branch, and Green Transport Lead on the University of Otago Christchurch Sustainability Committee. Notable publications comprise 'Enhancing unique identification of patients with malaria using biometric fingerprinting in Papua, Indonesia' (Malaria Journal, 2025), 'A Review of the Efficacy, Safety, and Feasibility of Rifamycin-Based Post-Exposure Chemoprophylaxis for Leprosy' (2025), 'CRISPR-Cas12a detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA in human samples for the diagnosis of leprosy' (2025), 'Severe Hemolysis during Primaquine Radical Cure of Plasmodium vivax Malaria' (American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2023), and 'Antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis in the absence of penicillin-cephalosporin cross-reactivity alerts' (Pharmacology Research & Perspectives, 2025). His contributions advance diagnostics and therapies for tropical pathogens, benefiting resource-limited settings.