 He studied medicine at King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry in London and soon after graduation joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1980, doing research with Professor Stuart Campbell and Professor Charles Rodeck as his first assistant, working mainly on fetoscopic techniques and procedures.His manual dexterity at procedures and the Rodeck-Nicolaides team soon produced some important papers on the use of fetoscopy in the management of a wide range of conditions such Rhesus iso-immunization, fetal hydrops and intrauterine growth restriction, and procedures such as blood and tissue sampling in the diagnosis of single gene defects.After the departure of Professor Rodeck, Nicolaides succeeded him as director of the Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, the first fetal medicine unit in the United Kingdom.