Professor Cheshire is a consultant vascular surgeon for 25 years and Professor of Vascular Surgery at Imperial College since 2004. Currently, he is head of vascular surgery in the Aortic Centre at the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals (largest NHS trust in the UK). Previously he has served as a medical director of Imperial College Hospitals and was responsible for amalgamation of services across three London teaching hospitals and developed a 5-year clinical quality strategy for the newly formed group. Professor Cheshire's interests includes surgical management of complex vascular disease, role of technology including stent design, robotics, virtual reality training and genomics. He has a national and international reputation in complex arterial surgery and in technological developments in the field of endovascular surgery. He is a scientific advisor and an organising contributor to major international vascular conferences in the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA.

In 2010, he led a city-wide review of vascular services in London; the plan developed was subsequently adopted as one of the models for vascular service delivery across the UK. At the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Nick previously led a team developing a national vascular skills training package still in use today.

Research programs have raised over £12 million and won prizes in the UK, Europe & the USA. He has published over 200 manuscripts and given over 250 keynote lectures.