Simon qualified from University College London. He was appointed as a consultant rheumatologist in Bristol in 2001, but moved to Dunedin, New Zealand in 2004 to take up a post at Dunedin Hospital and the University of Otago School of Medicine. Since then he has pursued his research interest in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), setting up a national longitudinal study in New Zealand to follow patients with AS. His particular interest is bowel inflammation in AS and how this provides insights into the aetiology of this complex and disabling arthropathy.