Professor Peter Sullivan

Academic Background

Clinical Tutor (Manchester) 1984 -1986; MRC Clinical Research Fellow (Cambridge) 1986-1988; Clinical Lecturer (London) 1989-1992; Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics (Hong Kong) 1992-1994 University Lecturer then Associate Professor in Paediatric Gastroenterology (Oxford) 1994-2019; Emeritus Professor in Paediatric Gastroenterology 2019-present.

I was Director of Teaching, Learning & Assessment in Paediatrics (2007-2019) responsible for development and presentation of Oxford’s undergraduate paediatric course. From 2011-2019, I was Director of Medical Education (Associate Medical Director) for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust responsible for the quality assurance of the clinical training of junior doctors. Over this period, I was also Associate Dean (Postgraduate medicine) in the Medical Science Division at the University of Oxford.

I now have a portfolio career as a medico-legal expert in paediatric gastroenterology and hold consultancies with the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation and Nutricia Advanced Medical Nutrition.

Research Interests

The nutritional and gastrointestinal consequences of brain damage in infants and children and the neurocognitive effects in them of neurotrophic dietary supplementation.

Small intestinal structure and function in children with severe malnutrition and Environmental Enteric Dysfunction.

Selected Publications

• Sullivan, PB, et al. The prevalence and severity of feeding and nutritional problems in children with neurological impairment: The Oxford Feeding Study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 2000; 42(10):674-680
• Sullivan, PB, et al. Gastrostomy tube feeding in children with cerebral palsy: a prospective, longitudinal study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 2005;47:77-85
• Sullivan, PB, et al. Gastrostomy tube feeding in children with cerebral palsy: too much of a good thing?. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 2006; 48:877-882
• Sullivan, PB., Gastrointestinal Disorders in Children with Neurodisabilities. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 2008; 14(2): 128-136
• Sullivan PB . Feeding and Nutrition in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disability. Mac Keith Press / Wiley-Blackwell ; ISBN:978-1-898683-60-5 (2009)
• Sullivan, P.B. The Human and Financial Cost of Brain Injury at Birth. The Expert Witness Journal 2019 1:27;44-46
• Peter B Sullivan, Environmental enteric dysfunction: a socioeconomic problem looking for a medical solution?, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, , nqz225, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz225. 2019
• Peter B. Sullivan (Editor), Guro L. Andersen (Editor), Morag J. Andrew (Editor). ‘Nutrition and Neurodisability’. Series: Practical Guides from Mac Keith Press. Edition: 1st ISBN: 9781911612254. Publication date: January 2020