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Natalie St Clair-Sullivan

Natalie St Clair-Sullivan (MSc, MRes, PhD, MCSP)

Research Fellow in HIV Sexual Health
E: N.StClair-Sullivan2@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Global Health and Infection Department, Medical Research Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PX

Area of expertise: HIV and ageing; frailty in people living with HIV; comprehensive geriatric assessment; physiotherapy and rehabilitation; qualitative and mixed methods research; feasibility trials; patient and public involvement

Research areas: HIV and ageing, frailty, sexual health, Long COVID and episodic disability

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Biography

Natalie is a Research Fellow in HIV Sexual Health in the Department of Global Health and Infection at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). She works within the HIV, Sexual Health and Women's Health Research Group and with the Lawson Unit at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

Natalie is a physiotherapist by background, with a clinical career in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. She remains registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and is a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Her clinical experience shapes her research, which focuses on function, independence and quality of life for people ageing with HIV.

She completed her PhD at the Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, King's College London, in 2025. Her thesis, 'Frailty in older adults living with HIV', combined qualitative research on lived experience with the Silver Clinic feasibility randomised controlled trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment. Patient and public involvement was embedded throughout her PhD. She also holds an MSc in Global Health from BSMS and an MRes in Clinical Research from King’s College London.

Natalie is a member of the Care of HIV and Ageing Implementation Network UK and Ireland (CHAIN UKI), a multidisciplinary network working to improve care, education and research for older people living with HIV. She has also works on the international Long COVID and Episodic Disability Studies.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Research

Natalie's research focuses on ageing with HIV, and in particular on frailty: how it is identified, how it is talked about with patients, and how care can be organised around it. She led the evaluation of frailty screening in the Brighton HIV service, and the Silver Clinic feasibility trial, which tested a joint geriatrician and HIV physician comprehensive geriatric assessment.

Natalie is interested in developing a community model of frailty care for people living with HIV, co-designed with people ageing with HIV and delivered by specialist HIV practitioners, including nurses and physiotherapists. She also works on CLASiS, a study of point-of-care testing for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and Mycoplasma genitalium in sexual health services.

Alongside her HIV work, Natalie contributes to Long COVID research on episodic disability, including qualitative work on the Episodic Disability Questionnaire and wearable activity trackers. Her methodological expertise is in qualitative and mixed methods research.

Selected publications

St Clair-Sullivan N, Bristowe K, Bremner S, Maddocks M, Harding R, Levett T, Roberts J, Adler Z, May P, Pargeter G, Vera JH (2026). Comprehensive geriatric assessment for people living with HIV and frailty: a mixed-methods feasibility randomized controlled trial. HIV Medicine 27(2): 283–298. doi:10.1111/hiv.70149

St Clair-Sullivan N, Vera J, Bremner S, Maddocks M, Harding R, Levett T, Roberts J, Adler Z, Adler Z, Pargeter G, Bristowe K (2025). 'We are fragile, but we are strong': a qualitative study of perspectives, experiences and priority outcomes for people living with HIV and frailty. HIV Medicine. doi:10.1111/hiv.13722

St Clair-Sullivan N, Bristowe K, Khan I, Maddocks M, Harding R, Bremner S, Levett T, Roberts J, Adler Z, Yi D, Vera JH (2024). Implementation of frailty screening for older people living with HIV in Brighton, UK. HIV Medicine 25(4): 484–490. doi:10.1111/hiv.13598

St Clair-Sullivan N, Simmons K, Harding R, Maddocks M, Harding R, Levett T, Trotman D, Yi D, Vera J, Bristowe K. (2023). Frailty and frailty screening: a qualitative study to elicit perspectives of people living with HIV and their healthcare professionals. HIV Medicine. doi:10.1111/hiv.13419

St Clair-Sullivan N, Bristowe K, Adler Z, Bremner S, Harding R, Levett T, Maddocks M, Pargeter G, Roberts J, Yi D, Vera J (2023). Silver Clinic: protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment for people living with HIV and frailty. BMJ Open 13(5): e070590.

St Clair-Sullivan N, Brighton LJ, Jha P, Bone A, Sudirman NA, Maddocks M, Bayly J (2026). Assistive technologies for people with advanced disease and in palliative care: a scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology 21(1): 32–48. doi:10.1080/17483107.2025.2536175

O'Brien KK, Brown DA, McDuff K, St Clair-Sullivan N, et al. (2025). Episodic disability framework in the context of Long COVID: findings from a community-engaged international qualitative study. PLoS ONE 20(2): e0305187.

Harding R, Erlandson KM, Vera JH, Chan Carusone S, O'Brien KK, et al., St Clair-Sullivan N (2023). Conceptualising the episodic nature of disability among adults living with Long COVID: a qualitative study. BMJ Global Health 8(3). doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-011276