About
Dr Nathan Brendish is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases. His research focuses on rapid and point-of-care testing for respiratory viruses and other infections. He is interested in how rapid and point-of-care tests can benefit patient care, specifically by improving diagnosis, clinical decision-making, antimicrobial stewardship, and patient flow through hospitals.
Dr Brendish has led and contributed to randomised clinical trials and diagnostic accuracy studies of novel point-of-care tests within Professor Tristan Clark’s research group, with findings published in high-impact journals. Dr Brendish’s work has shown that molecular point-of-care testing is associated with pathogen-directed antibiotic use, improved antiviral use in influenza, more appropriate use of isolation rooms, and reduced length of hospital stay. This research, alongside his work on finger-prick host-response testing, informed the implementation of hospital testing pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Brendish’s achievements have been recognised through awards including the ESCMID Young Investigator Award, the Royal College of Physicians Turner-Warwick Lecturer award, and the University of Southampton/SoCATS Clinical Lecturer Award. He is co-lead for infection teaching in the Medical School at the University of Southampton.
Landmark Publications:
- Brendish NJ, Malachira AK, Armstrong L, ... Clark TW. Routine molecular point-of-care testing for respiratory viruses in adults presenting to hospital with acute respiratory illness (ResPOC): a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2017; 5:401-411.
- Brendish NJ, Poole S, Naidu VV, ... Clark TW. Clinical impact of molecular point-of-care testing for suspected COVID-19 in hospital (COV-19POC): a prospective, interventional, non-randomised, controlled study. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2020; 8:1192-1200.
- Clark TW, Beard KR, Brendish NJ, et al. Clinical impact of a routine, molecular, point-of-care, test-and-treat strategy for influenza in adults admitted to hospital (FluPOC): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2021; 9:419-429.
- Brendish NJ, Beard KR, Malachira AK, ... Clark TW. Clinical impact of syndromic molecular point-of-care testing for gastrointestinal pathogens in adults hospitalised with suspected gastroenteritis (GastroPOC): a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2023; 23:945-955.