Professor Tommy Dickinson is Professor of Nursing Education and Programme Leader for the Master of Nursing (MNurs) at King's College London. He is a dual-awarded registered adult and mental health nurse whose work spans nursing practice, nursing history and nursing education, with a particular focus on diversity, inclusion and neurodiversity in healthcare and education.

After a clinical career predominantly in mental health and social care nursing in the UK and Australia, Tommy moved into academia in 2006. He held lectureships at several universities before joining King's in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed the Talbott Visiting Professor of Nursing at the University of Virginia in the USA, where he taught, conducted research and worked clinically in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. Tommy is also an Honorary Professor of Nursing at Queen's University Belfast.

Alongside his academic leadership responsibilities, Tommy remains clinically active, practising one day per week as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. This ongoing clinical role ensures that his teaching, leadership and research remain firmly grounded in contemporary nursing practice.

Tommy's research spans nursing practice, nursing history and nursing education. His work has made significant contributions to understanding diversity and inclusion in healthcare and education. As a leader in nursing education, he has advised universities and professional organisations, both nationally and internationally, on inclusive education and curriculum development.

He is particularly recognised for his scholarship on the historical treatment of LGBTQ+ people in healthcare systems and the implications of this history for contemporary nursing practice. His award-winning book, Curing Queers: Mental Nurses and Their Patients, 1935–74, received the American Association for the History of Nursing's Lavinia L. Dock Award, presented to the author of a book noted for outstanding research and writing. The book has also had a significant impact beyond academia, informing the BAFTA-nominated film Against the Law and several television and radio documentaries. He also has an international research profile in gerontological care, with a particular focus on inclusive care for LGBTQ+ older people living in care homes.

Tommy is the first and only UK-based nurse selected for a Fellowship in the National League for Nursing's Academy of Nursing Education in the United States. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and of the European Academy of Nursing Science. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Nursing Education and was appointed to the inaugural editorial team of the Journal of the American Nurses Association–New York as an International Editorial Advisory Board member.

Through his academic, research and clinical roles, Tommy continues to contribute to the advancement of inclusive nursing education and healthcare practice nationally and internationally.

Research profile