Tom completed a PhD in biophotonics and lung inflammation in 2017, winning the research gold medal from the Intensive Care Society for his work. He became a Consultant in Critical Care at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 2019 and a National Research Scotland Fellow in 2020. His research examines novel optical strategies for diagnosis, stratification, and treatment of critical respiratory illness such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. He is a programme director for the MSc in Critical Care, a course organiser for the BMedSci in Anaesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer.