Thomas currently works as an associate professor and honorary consultant in geriatric medicine in the Department of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham.  He works clinically in the acute medical unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

His research group focusses on understating the immune-inflammatory basis of clinical expressions of adverse ageing, opposed to healthy ageing.  These clinical expressions include delirium, frailty and sarcopenia. He leads a £4.4M research programme funded by Wellcome Leap Dynamic Resilience investigating underlying biological processes that drive older people’s ability to recover after stressor events such as surgery.  A recent trial has looked at the effects of food supplements that have effects on underlying biological mechanisms of ageing – so testing the so called ‘geroscience hypothesis’.   He is joint PI of the OPTIMising therapies, discovering therapeutic targets and AI assisted clinical management for patients Living with complex multimorbidity study (OPTIMAL).  This aims to provide decision support for polypharmacy, as well as insights in multimorbidity trajectories and clusters.

He is also passionate about supporting geriatricians in training to develop careers in research, a clear area in need of capacity building.