Nicky Perry is an HIV nurse. She helped set up the clinical research department at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

What is your favourite place in Sussex?

This is the most difficult thing to choose. I think I will choose the walk from Seaford Head down to the beach.

The view as you turn the corner and look down on to the cottages with the river meeting the sea and the cliffs of Beachy Head – this sums up Sussex to me.

What do you love most about living in Sussex?

Having the coastline and countryside on my doorstep working in synergy with each other.

What advice do you have for your 12-year-old self?

Don’t be afraid to be loved.

What is your most valued possession?

My dad’s 1970s leather swivel chair.

What is your biggest regret?

I don’t really have any but not making the effort to meet my friends at a nightclub many years ago and I missed the opportunity to meet Bryan Ferry.

What is your biggest fear?

Being caught in a house fire.

What is your proudest achievement?

Being a nurse and working in HIV for over 25 years and seeing all the great advances in treatments and quality of life for people living with HIV – and also having the opportunity meeting so many awesome people along the way.

Which five people (living or dead) would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?

Maya Angelou, American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist.

Sir David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist.

Rick Stein, chef.

Christopher Lloyd, British gardener and author. He was the 20th century chronicler for the heavily planted, labour-intensive, country garden.

Carole King, American composer and singer-songwriter.

Anything else?

On May 7, Nicky will be taking part in the Brighton and Sussex Medical School in collaboration with the Martin Fisher Foundation event HIV: Is victory in sight?