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Professor Bob Hancox is a Professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. A respiratory specialist, he holds qualifications including BSc, MB ChB (University of Birmingham), MD (University of Otago), MRCP, and FRACP. He combines epidemiological and clinical research to investigate the development of respiratory diseases such as asthma, allergies, and other lung conditions. His research prominently features the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal birth cohort followed from birth into mid-adulthood. Hancox previously worked in Respiratory Medicine at Waikato Hospital and has held key roles at Otago, including Deputy Director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Unit from 2002 to 2009. He currently serves as Principal Investigator for the Next Generation Studies sub-studies, including the Parenting Study and Next Generation Study.
His research interests include trajectories of lung function from childhood, clinical respiratory medicine, and public health factors such as childhood television viewing, obesity, physical fitness, cannabis use, and trauma impacts on breathing. He was appointed Medical Director of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand in 2024. Hancox has 271 research outputs with 18,280 citations on ResearchGate. Key publications encompass 'Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study' (The Lancet, 2004); 'Association of Television Viewing During Childhood With Continued Presence of Antisocial Behavior Into Adulthood' (JAMA Pediatrics, 2005); 'Effects of cannabis on lung function: a population-based cohort study' (European Respiratory Journal, 2009); 'Systemic inflammation and lung function: A longitudinal analysis' (Respiratory Medicine, 2016); studies linking childhood fitness to adult lung health (Respirology, 2018); 'Long-term cannabis use damages lungs, but in a different way from tobacco' (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2022); 'The ill winds of COVID-19: How the pandemic improved respiratory health for some' (Respirology, 2023); and 'Distinct trajectories of lung function from childhood to mid-adulthood' (Thorax, 2024). His work has shaped understanding of lifelong respiratory health risks.
Discover how researchers from University of Otago, Auckland, and MRINZ influenced GINA 2026 guidelines, reducing child asthma attacks by 45% with innovative inhaler therapy.
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