Nicholas Coatsworth

Nick Coatsworth is an Australian infectious diseases expert. He was Australia's deputy chief medical officer during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he regularly appeared in print and on radio and television to provide the public with information.

He is Nine Network's medical expert and presents the television show Do You Want to Live Forever? with Tracy Grimshaw.

Education Coatsworth was educated at Wesley College in South Perth which he attended between 1985 and 1995. At Wesley he was awarded the Philip Goatcher Scholarship for Years 11 and 12. In 2022 the university awarded him an Honorary Doctorate for services to medicine. He is currently director of infectious diseases at Canberra Hospital.

His other roles have included executive director at the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Darwin.

Coatsworth led humanitarian teams in the Congo and the Darfur region of Sudan for Medicins Sans Frontiers when he was 25, a task that he says left him with PTSD. He told the Today programme: "I think everyone has their limits in life and I kind of reached that, the security situation there was really difficult. There was the threat of assassination of people in the place where we were." After returning home, Coatsworth became anxious: "I felt like I was having these heart palpitations ... At the end of 2019 it got to the point one weekend I couldn't leave the house." He took anxiety medication to resolve the issue.

He also led the second Australian Medical Assistance Team to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

In 2024, Coatsworth became a clinical governance advisor for GP telehealth company Eucalyptus.

During the COVID-19 Lockdown Period In 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coatsworth was appointed as Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer. As the only hospital-based practising clinician in the team of deputies, his role initially involved dealing with hospitals and health services.

However, Coatsworth became one of the government's key public-facing experts, appearing regularly in press conferences and on television programmes to talk about the virus. This led to him being labelled a 'household name' by the media.

He was appointed by Australia's then top health adviser Brendan Murphy one of three deputy chief medical officers. The Australian Financial Review The Australian

Television Coatsworth is Nine Network's Medical Expert Do You Want To Live Forever? which he hosts with Tracey Grimshaw. Sky News on Sky News Australia Today on the Nine Network 7.30 on ABC TV Sunrise on Seven Network The Project on Network 10 A Current Affair on Nine Network Q+A on ABC TV ABC News on ABC News

In 2021 he starred in television adverts on behalf of the Australian government about COVID-19 vaccinations.

In 2023 Coatsworth filled in as presenter of Today while regular host Karl Stefanovic took Christmas leave. His appointment left "plenty of noses out of joint" due to his perceived inexperience.

Other platforms He has also been interviewed on radio and for podcasts

Personal life Coatsworth is married to Dr Rebecca Pearson, a lung transplant physician. They have three children.