Hywel Williams, MSc (Epidemiol), PhD, FRCP, was appointed Foundation Professor of Dermato-Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham in April 1998.  He trained in dermatology at St John’s Dermatology Centre and in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  His main research interest is in health technology assessment, especially in relation to childhood eczema.

Hywel currently directs the Centre for Evidence-Based Dermatology at Nottingham (www.nottingham.ac.uk/dermatology) and is co-ordinating editor of the Cochrane Skin Group (www.nottingham.ac.uk/~muzd). As a published author, Hywel has written over 200 peer-reviewed articles and three books.  

In 1998 Hywel was appointed Director of Research & Development at the Queen’s Medical Centre NHS Trust at Nottingham. A position he held until 2001. He also became Director of the Nottingham Unit of the Trent Institute for Health Services Research 2000-2004. Hywel then directed the Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Nottingham from 2005 to 2008.  In November 2009, he became the new Chair of the National Institute of Health Research, Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Commissioning Board. The HTA Board considers the scientific merit of research applications to promote health, prevent and treat disease and improve rehabilitation and long term care.

Hywel cares passionately about the promotion of high quality and clinically relevant health services research and he enjoys working with patient groups and in promoting international collaborations across health care boundaries and across professional groups.  

Hywel is also a clinical dermatologist, and together with Nurse Consultant Sandra Lawton and Dr. Jane Ravenscroft, founded the Nottingham Special Eczema Clinic in 1996. He and his team are committed to providing high quality care and unbiased, evidence-based information to eczema sufferers and their families.

Profile - Prof Hywel Williams