Dr Nikhil Gokani

Biography

Dr Nikhil Gokani is Lecturer in Consumer Protection and Public Health Law at the University of Essex. His research explores how we can tackle the risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases (particularly unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption and air pollution) and the associated health inequalities through legal mechanisms. Nikhil’s work brings together public health and national, EU and international law, with a focus on consumer protection, trade and human rights law. Nikhil's primary expertise is in the regulation of food and alcohol information, particularly front-of-pack nutrition labelling and alcohol labelling (also the topic of his doctoral thesis). Nikhil is a regular presenter at national and international conferences and has published widely in both peer-reviewed journals and non-academic publications. Nikhil regularly works with governments, non-governmental organisations and other institutions at national and international levels as part of his advisory and consultancy work (such as WHO, UNICEF, UK Public Health Network). He has received funding from prestigious organisations (including the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust). Before moving to Essex, Nikhil worked at the University of Liverpool, where he was Deputy Director of the Law & Non-Communicable Diseases Unit, and he now sits on its Advisory Board. He is Chair of the Alcohol Labelling and Health Warning International Expert Group at the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare), and a full member of the WHO Europe Technical Advisory Group on Alcohol Labelling. He is also Vice President of the Law and Public Health Section of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). Nikhil is or has been a member of several national committees on health policy. This has included three committees at the Royal College of Physicians (including its Working Party on Air Pollution), two committees at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (including its Appeal Panel), the National Institute for Health Research, and most recently to the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel (by ministerial appointment). Nikhil is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health At Essex, Nikhil is Student Conduct Chair, Convener of the Health and Medical Humanities Hub and Co-ordinator of the Business Law Cluster. He is lecturer and module director for Contract Law, and lectures Consumer Law and Commercial Law. He also lectures on Commercial Determinants of Health in the School of Health and Social Care. In 2024/25, he will launch a postgraduate module on 'Law and the Commercial Determinants of Health'.