Dr Jim Bond, MBBS, MSc, DPH, FFTM, FISTM

Consultant in travel medicine & one health doctor

Jim was born and brought up in Zambia. Trained both in the UK and South Africa, he has also worked in Botswana, Malaŵi, Madagascar and Mozambique. He deliberately chose a broad and practical 'portfolio' medical career, developing hands-on skills and experience in tropical diseases and public health while working as a bush doctor in Africa. Since returning to Scotland, he has worked in HIV palliative care, specialist Travel Medicine (since 1999), Public Health and Occupational Medicine. After 10 years' higher specialist training (part-time), he qualified as Scotland's first dedicated (medical) Consultant in Travel Medicine in 2018.

Frustrated by the gulf that often exists between Western and African traditional medicine, Jim for some years pursued a parallel career interest in ethnobotany, (the study of traditional knowledge and uses of plants by local people). To this end he undertook further studies at the Botanics in Edinburgh on the Ethnobotany of Socotra (Yemen) and then set up a research, community development and conservation project with RBG Kew in SW Madagascar, working with the elusive Mikea forest people and their healers. Since 1996, he has led and/or acted as expedition doctor to a range of expeditions and safaris to Belize, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and the Peruvian Amazon.

Throughout his travels and expeditions, Jim has been privileged to explore some very remote corners of Africa, Madagascar and South America, seldom visited by outsiders. He has also been able to share his love of travel and other cultures with his children, who accompanied him on some of his adventures when they were young.

Jim previously taught and mentored for the Faculty of Travel Medicine in Glasgow and now currently teaches and examines for the Pan-African Travel Medicine Federation course in Travel Medicine, run by Kairuki University, Dar es Salaam. He is a council member for the Expedition & Wilderness Medicine special interest group of the International Society of Travel Medicine.

However, he still manages to get back to the bush whenever he can find a suitable excuse: Over the Winter months this past year, he worked as a community doctor in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, providing care in a rural clinic and hospital for local Zambians and safari visitors alike, as well as working with local One Health teams on rabies elimination via mass vaccination of dogs & cats - and some high-risk workers and children.  

Mrs Nicky Armstrong, RGN, BSC, DTM, MFTM RCPS(GLASG)

Specialist Travel Nurse

Nicky was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, studied in Edinburgh, qualifying as a registered nurse in 1982 and completed her nursing degree in professional health studies in 2010.  She undertook the Diploma in Travel Medicine in 2005-6 and was awarded Associate Membership of the Faculty of Travel Medicine in 2008. Nicky was made a Full Member of the Faculty of Travel Medicine in 2024.

Nicky formally retired from the NHS in July 2017 after 17 years as Senior Charge Nurse within the Regional Infectious Disease Unit in Edinburgh, returning to work within the same unit as a travel nurse specialist on a part time basis until September 2024.

She has been a partner and prescribing Specialist Travel Nurse Practitioner at TrExMed Travel Clinic since we opened in 2009.

Laura Thomson, RN, MFTM(Glasg), MSc

Specialist Travel & Expedition Nurse (Jim’s locum while he is working in Zambia)

Laura is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with a professional background in travel medicine and a keen interest in global health and infectious diseases. She holds a master’s degree in Extreme Medicine and has extensive experience delivering healthcare in remote and resource-constrained environments.

In addition to her clinical practice, Laura serves as a faculty member for multiple organisations, specialising in medical education, humanitarian aid and training for practitioners operating in austere and challenging conditions. She also collaborates with multiple charitable expedition organisations, providing comprehensive medical support for international expeditions. Her clinical experience spans diverse geographic regions including Morocco, Guatemala, Cambodia, Nepal, and New Zealand, complemented by medical support for endurance and sporting events throughout Scotland.

Currently, Laura is undertaking a medical degree to advance her expertise and commitment to improving access to quality healthcare within both travel and conventional medical settings.