Professor Nicholas Steel is a Clinical Professor in Public Health at the University of East Anglia's (UEA) Norwich Medical School. He has held this position since 2016, following roles as Clinical Reader in Primary Care and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Primary Care at UEA. His academic journey includes a PhD from UEA in 2008, focusing on evaluating healthcare quality through the development and use of quality indicators. 

Professor Steel's research interests are cantered on measuring healthcare quality, particularly within the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. He has assessed the applicability of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines to primary care, managed referrals in general practice, and evaluated the impacts of UK quality improvement initiatives, such as the Quality and Outcomes Framework for general practices.