Dr. Brendan Payne
“Understanding viral infection takes both clinical precision and mechanistic depth — knowing what a pathogen does to a patient, and what it does to a cell.”
Dual-Trained in Infectious Diseases and Medical Virology
Dr. Brendan Payne is a Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases and Medical Virology at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he has been a consultant since 2015. He is dual-trained across clinical infectious diseases and laboratory medical virology — a combination held by relatively few UK consultants — and leads the Newcastle High-Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) treatment centre. He is also medical lead for the North-of-Tyne ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) service.
He completed undergraduate medical training at the University of Nottingham (BMedSci, BMBS) and postgraduate clinical and academic training in Newcastle and the Northern region. He undertook an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship followed by a Wellcome Clinical Postdoctoral Fellowship, earning his PhD in the laboratory of Professor Patrick Chinnery on somatic mitochondrial DNA mutations in the setting of antiretroviral therapy. He holds membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), and the Diploma in HIV Medicine (DipHIVMed).
Alongside his clinical role, Dr. Payne is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and a principal investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research. His research examines how HIV and long-term antiretroviral therapy affect mitochondrial function — work directly relevant to the long-term health of people ageing on modern ART regimens. His current research also includes commercial trials of vaccines and antiviral medications and the development of novel diagnostics for infection.
As a Medical Reviewer for SunnyPharma®, Dr. Payne provides clinical oversight on HIV treatment education content, checking articles for accuracy against current DHHS, BHIVA, and WHO guidelines and the latest peer-reviewed evidence in antiretroviral pharmacotherapy. He does not write SunnyPharma® articles — his function is independent review.
Understanding viral infection takes both clinical precision and mechanistic depth — knowing what a pathogen does to a patient, and what it does to a cell. I apply that same rigour to every piece of content I review.
Peer-Reviewed Research on HIV, Antiretrovirals & Mitochondria
Dr. Payne is a published researcher on the mitochondrial effects of HIV and antiretroviral therapy, with work in leading international journals. Selected first-author publications:
Review Standards & Editorial Independence
Content reviewed by Dr. Payne for SunnyPharma® is evaluated against current WHO HIV treatment guidelines, the DHHS Adult and Adolescent Antiretroviral Guidelines, BHIVA guidelines, and the latest peer-reviewed evidence in antiretroviral pharmacotherapy and infectious disease management. He applies the same clinical rigour he uses in daily hospital practice, ensuring every reviewed article is factually accurate, appropriately caveated, and suitable for a patient-facing audience.
Conflict of interest disclosure. Dr. Payne has no financial relationships with any antiretroviral or antiviral pharmaceutical manufacturer that bear on his SunnyPharma® review work. His compensation from SunnyPharma® is a fixed per-article review fee, paid regardless of an article’s conclusions or commercial outcomes. He maintains active registration with the UK General Medical Council (GMC).
Independence boundary. SunnyPharma® is an independent health-education platform — not a pharmacy, not a seller, not affiliated with any manufacturer. Dr. Payne’s NHS clinical practice and university research are entirely separate from his SunnyPharma® review work, and no SunnyPharma® content is directed to patients under his direct clinical care.