John Kolbe is a graduate of the University of Queensland, Australia. His postgraduate training was undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand, and then at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore MD. He is currently a respiratory physician at Auckland City Hospital and Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland.
Previous roles have included President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, President, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (2010-2012). He is currently Chair of the RACP Revalidation Working Party, Chair of the Health Research Council of New Zealand Clinical Trials Assessment Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Internal Medicine. His recent research interests include asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer.