Dr Nikhil Gokani

Dr Nikhil Gokani is Senior Lecturer in consumer protection and global public health law at the University of Exeter. His research examines how legal mechanisms can be used to tackle non-communicable diseases (particularly resulting from unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption, tobacco and air pollution) and the associated health inequalities. Nikhil's work bridges public health with national, EU and international law, with a focus on consumer protection, trade and human rights law. His primary expertise lies in the regulation of consumer food and alcohol information, and he is the leading authority on the regulation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling and alcohol labelling and warnings.

Nikhil is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and has published widely in both peer-reviewed journals and non-academic outlets. He regularly works with governments, governmental organisations and civil society actors at national and international levels as part of his advisory and consultancy work (eg WHO, UNICEF). He has received funding from leading organisations (eg Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust).

Nikhil is Chair of the Alcohol Labelling and Health Warning International Expert Group at the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare). He was formerly Vice President of the Law and Public Health Section at the European Public Health Association. He has served on many national health policy committees, including at the Royal College of Physicians (including its Working Party on Air Pollution), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (including its Appeal Panel), National Institute for Health Research and 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.

Before moving to the University of Exeter, Nikhil was Lecturer at the University of Essex, where he served as Convener of the Health and Medical Humanities Hub and Coordinator of the Business Law Cluster. Prior to this, 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.

Nikhil currently teaches Contract Law, EU Law and Commercial Law. He was also module director for Contract Law and Consumer Law, and lectured International Business Law. Nikhil taught on regulating commercial determinants of health as part of the Master of Public Health degree. Nikhil was also Chair of the Student Conduct Committee as his previous institution. He is Fellow of Advance HE, and will soon launch a new law module on global public health law.