Rate My Professor John Brannan

Dr John Brannan is Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, Australia, a position he has held since June 2020. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Physiology from the University of New South Wales in 1994, a Master of Science in Medicine with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney in 1997, and a PhD from the same institution in 2001, with a thesis titled 'Osmotic challenge in asthma using dry powder of mannitol'. His career spans extensive roles in respiratory research and clinical physiology. From 1995 to 2005, he served as a Research Fellow in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He then held Postgraduate and Senior Research Fellow positions at the Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health in Hamilton, Canada, from 2005 to 2009. Subsequent appointments include Honorary Visiting Fellow at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Sydney Faculty of Pharmacy, and Senior Hospital Scientist at Westmead Hospital. From 2015 to 2023, he was Scientific Director of the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital, and since 2018, Scientific Director at the Maitland Pulmonary Function Laboratory.

Brannan's research focuses on obstructive lung diseases, particularly asthma, airway hyperresponsiveness, exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, and chronic cough. He played a pivotal role in developing dry powder mannitol as a bronchial provocation test (Aridol or Osmohale), now registered in 26 countries worldwide. His contributions include over 128 publications, with 4,586 citations, key works such as 'The safety and efficacy of inhaled dry powder mannitol as a bronchial provocation test for airway hyperresponsiveness' (2006), 'Methods for "Indirect" Challenge Tests Including Exercise, Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnea and Hypertonic Aerosols' (2006), 'Daily Inhaled Corticosteroids Treatment Abolishes Airway Hyperresponsiveness to Mannitol in Mild Asthma' (2022), and 'The Olympics have arrived: The challenge of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in athletes' (2024). He is author of the forthcoming book 'Airway hyperresponsiveness' (2025). Awards include the Asthma Foundation Summer Scholarship (1994), multiple travel scholarships, National Asthma Campaign Poster Prize (2009), Tracy Robinson Award for Teaching Excellence (2014), and Best Oral Presentation at the Australian & New Zealand Society of Respiratory Science Meeting (2018). Brannan has delivered presentations at international conferences and contributed to guidelines on chronic cough management.