Meet the Team – Dr John Dickinson

Next in our Meet the Team series we chat to Reader and Head of the Exercise Respiratory Clinic, Dr John Dickinson

Why did you pick a career in sport?

I have been obsessed with sport ever since Liverpool FC won the double in 1986. Whilst growing up I pretty much played any sport I could get my hands and feet on. I played football, tennis, basketball and golf as much as I possibly could but although I enjoyed playing them I was never going to be close to make a living out of being a professional athlete – although I have won several accolades including Man of the Day at a mixed Netball tournament! Luckily I was also pretty handy in the class room. I enjoyed science and had some great science teachers in high school that were really engaging and inspiring. Based on my love of sport and science it wasn’t a hard choice to pick sports science as a subject to study at University.

What do you enjoy most about teaching at Kent?

I love working with the SSES team. My fellow academics are excellent work colleagues and fountains of knowledge to bounce ideas off. This is so important as nobody ever has all the answers themselves. By working with my colleagues I can collaborate on new ideas on how we deliver teaching and develop new research ideas. Our team isn’t just the academics, it the technical and administration too. They are so helpful, know way more about the technical side of University operations and are fantastically agile work with the havoc I present them with when I suggest we are going to run an ambitious project like our Student Thesis Conference.

What are you currently researching?

My research is currently investigating three main areas:

Diagnosis and management of asthma related issues in athletes: We are currently working with GB Swimming team and conducting various project to assist them preparing for the next Olympic Games in Tokyo. Related to this I also run the respiratory clinic at Kent that provides consultancy support for elite sports. Some of our clients have included professional athletes from LTA, Premier League and GB Boxing and we also supported the England Football team for the 2018 World Cup.

Diagnosis and management of dysfunctional breathing in athletes: This are of research developed as I have identified many athletes with significant respiratory symptoms that limit their high intensity exercise in absence of respiratory disease. Many of these athletes have previously been told they have asthma but they do not respond to inhaler therapy and when we test them specifically for exercise induced asthma the test is negative. I am currently collaborating with Dr. Sam Winter and our PhD student Carol Smyth to develop new methods to standardise identification of dysfunctional breathing patterns and investigating the most effective therapy to help athletes. This work is feeding directly into our support to elite athletes. I am currently supporting athletes around the world with dysfunctional breathing problems and collaborating with other leading research teams around the world (e.g. Norway).

Ergogenic action of asthma therapy: We have previously run projects investigating whether asthma therapy has the potential to improve performance. We have so far demonstrated therapeutic doses of permitted asthma therapy (e.g. inhaled salbutamol – blue inhalers) do not improve endurance, strength or power performance. However, supra-therapeutic doses may improve strength and power performance. These findings have been used by policy makers (e.g. World Anti-Doping Agency) to ensure the rules around asthma therapy allow athletes with asthma to safely take part in elite sport but at the same time restrict athletes from abusing asthma therapy. In collaboration with Dr. James Hopker and our PhD student Will Gowers we are currently investigating whether asthma  therapy that requires a Therapeutic Use Exemption certificate can improve performance in athletes.

What is your favourite sport to watch or play?

Having had a hip replacement 4 years ago I’ve had to stop playing high impact sports. Currently my favourite sports to play are golf and tennis. I also keep my involvement in football by coaching the youth teams at Faversham Town FC.

My favourite sport to watch is Football. I’m a season ticket holder at Liverpool but rarely get to go to back home (my name for Anfield), as since I’ve been working in Kent. I’m really looking forward to seeing us finally become English Champions for the first time in thirty years – as long as the Coronavirus outbreak allows us to finish the season!