Tom qualified from Cambridge University's School of Veterinary Medicine in 1993. He performed his PhD, also at Cambridge, on 'Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy in the Mare' under the supervision of Professor W.R. 'Twink' Allen at the Equine Fertility Unit in Newmarket funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. After a short period as Lecturer in Animal Reproduction at Cambridge Tom moved to Utrecht University to become a lecturer in equine reproduction. In 2007, he was appointed to the Chair of Equine Medicine and Reproduction at the Department of Equine Sciences and also to an extraordinary Chair in Reproduction at the University of Pretoria, Department of Production Animal Sciences.

Tom is a Diplomat of the European College of Animal Reproduction (ECAR) and a Royal Dutch Veterinary Association specialist (KNMvD) in Equine Reproduction. He runs a busy clinical discipline working on all aspects of equine reproduction, with increasing emphasis on assisted reproduction and diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Tom's research interests are focussed on fertilisation, early embryonic development and early pregnancy loss in mares and in the relationships between semen quality and fertility in stallions. He is also involved in studies into semen quality and early embryonic development in farm animal and wildlife species and contraceptive techniques for the management of wild animal populations.