Rate My Professor John Pickering

Professor John Pickering is a Research Professor (Ahorangi Rangahau) in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine in the Health Sciences Division. He holds a BSc(Hons), PhD, and BA(Hons) from the University of Otago. With a physics background, Pickering was part of the team that pioneered the use of lasers to remove birthmarks. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Academisch Medisch Centrum Universiteit van Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam Laser Centre from October 1990 to December 1992. Pickering joined the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago in 2007, initially to investigate improved diagnosis and treatment of kidney failure in intensive care units. He now works as a scientist (kaipūtaiao) and biostatistician (kaitātara koiora) with the Rangahau Manawa o Ōtautahi (Christchurch Heart Institute) and Big Data and Ageing research groups at University of Otago Christchurch, as well as the Emergency Medicine research group at Christchurch Hospital. Since January 2014, he has served as a Senior Researcher in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Christchurch Hospital.

Pickering's research focuses on optimising the use of biomarkers for diagnosis, clinical pathway development, and translational research in acute care. His special interests include accelerated diagnostic pathways and troponin for possible acute myocardial infarction, alongside detection and management of acute kidney injury and improving wellbeing of older persons using interRAI data. He has produced impactful publications such as 'Rapid Rule-out of Acute Myocardial Infarction With a Single High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Measurement Below the Limit of Detection: A Collaborative Meta-analysis' (2017), 'ICare-ACS (Improving Care Processes for Patients With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome): A Study of Cross-System Implementation of a National Clinical Pathway' (2017), 'Machine Learning to Predict the Likelihood of Acute Myocardial Infarction' (2019), 'Analytical Verification of a Point-of-Care High-Sensitivity Troponin I Assay' (2025), and 'Difference of Admission Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Concentration Between Patients Developing and Not Developing Acute Kidney Injury' (2026). His work has garnered 9,734 citations on ResearchGate, influencing emergency care protocols for faster heart attack diagnosis and kidney injury prediction. Pickering also participates in citizen science and astronomy outreach.