Prof Faust is a paediatrician with a sub-specialty interest in immunology and infectious diseases.

MA, MBBS, MRCPCH, PhD, FHEA, FRCPCH

Training and education

BA (MA 1995) in social and political sciences - Cambridge University, 1990
MB BS (medical degree) - University of London, 1993
Membership of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health - 1996
Medical Research Council clinical research training fellowship - 1998 to 2001
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (previously Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education) - 2001
PhD - Imperial College, London, 2005
Certificate of Advanced Study in Learning and Teaching - Imperial College, London, 2006
Certificate of Good Clinical Practice - Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, 2007

Fellowships

Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Experience

Prof Faust undertook senior house officer and specialist registrar training in paediatrics at Great Ormond Street Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital Paddington, University College London, Hammersmith Hospital, the Whittington Hospital, Royal London Hospital, Tower Hamlets PCT and Edgware General Hospital.

Prior to joining the Trust in 2006, he completed clinical research training as MRC clinical research fellow and clinical lecturer at Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus.

Prof Faust is part of UHS’s paediatric immunology and infectious diseases team, who support and advise on antibiotic management for all children and babies treated in Southampton as inpatients. They become more involved with the care of children in hospital when an infection is complicated or difficult to treat, or when there is a diagnostic dilemma. The team of three consultants is also responsible for overseeing children receiving antibiotics at home.

In outpatients, Prof Faust and his team see children with a range of infections and immune conditions, including

infections like HIV and Lyme disease
rare or unusual infections (confirmed or suspected)
genetic disorders of the immune system (known as primary immunodeficiency disorders)
infections children are born with (congenital infections, for example cytomegalovirus).

The team also sees children who have been admitted to hospital previously with suspected or confirmed serious infections like sepsis or meningitis, including children who have previously been treated on intensive care. They can also see children more urgently in clinic if necessary, for example those with suspected tuberculosis or Kawasaki disease.

Key achievements

Prof Saul Faust set up and leads the Southampton tertiary paediatric immunology and infectious diseases service, creating a full time NHS consultant post (2010) and a clinical academic consultant post (2016). The team care directly for children with complex infections and primary immunodeficiency disorders, in Southampton and in collaboration with colleagues across Wessex.
Prof Faust has been director of the Southampton NIHR Clinical Research Facility since 2008. The facility is managed as an NHS ward environment for clinical research and trials in children and adults, patients and healthy volunteers. As associate medical director for research and development and deputy director of the Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (2017-22), Prof Faust works with colleagues across the Trust and university to provide the best possible environment for patients to take part in clinical trials and other research. In April 2020, Prof Faust will become clinical director of the National Institute for Health Research Wessex Local Clinical Research Network.
Prof Faust is clinical lead for paediatric immunology and infectious diseases at University Hospital Southampton/Southampton Children’s Hospital. He's been a member of the national NHS England Clinical Reference Group for Paediatric Medicine since 2013, working with colleagues to ensure high quality paediatric medical subspecialties in Southampton and across England.
Prof Faust was the NICE Guideline Committee chair for sepsis in children and adults (published 2016) and the NICE Guideline Committee chair for Lyme disease in children and adults (published 2018). He's been involved in developing many other national guidelines for children, including being co-author of the the Wessex regional antibiotic guidelines for children (available via the award-winning microguide app), the national algorithm for management of meningococcal disease in children and national guidelines for managing paediatric bone and joint infections. He was also a member of the NICE guideline development group for diarrhoea and vomiting in children under five.

Key awards and prizes

Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Summer School, 1987
Clare College Thirkill travel grant, 1990
Clare College Beatson prize for essay on medically-related subject, 1990
Certificate of Merit in obstetrics and gynaecology (MBBS), 1993
Distinction Viva and Certificate of Merit in surgery (MBBS), 1993
Joint Filliter Prize in pathology (UCLMS), 1993
Joint F T Roberts Prize in obstetrics and gynaecology (UCLMS) 1993
Hetley Clinical Prize in medicine, surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology (UCLMS), 1993
First Broderip Prize in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, pharmacology and pathology (UCLMS), 1993
World Federation of Pediatric Intensive Care and Critical Care Societies Young Investigator Award, 3rd World Congress, Montreal, Canada, 2000
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Lorber Prize, 2002

Research

Prof Faust is a clinical researcher in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology, developing local and national collaborative clinical trials in paediatric infectious diseases. He also conducts paediatric and adult vaccine trials as part of the UK academic paediatric vaccine group. Prof Faust conducts trials of new medicines for children to treat infections such as bronchiolitis and serious bacterial infections, taking part in many national and international trials on behalf of UHS.

Prof Faust co-leads the clinical biofilm research group at the University of Southampton, working with colleagues across the faculties of medicine, biological sciences and engineering. This work is trying to find new treatments for patients with infections caused by bacteria sticking together on body surfaces, such as in cystic fibrosis.

He's also a member of Genomics England's Clinical Interpretation Partnerships for primary immunodeficiency, paediatric sepsis and paediatrics, part of the 100,000 Genome Project. This research aims to directly benefit patients and has been featured on BBC and ITN news.

Contact

You can contact Prof Faust via his clinical secretary Heloisa Whyatt on 023 8120 6417 or by emailing Heloisa.Whyatt@uhs.nhs.uk. Alternatively, you can contact his academic PA Emma-Louise Lingwood.