Dr John Lowe joined UniSC as Professor and Head of the School of Health and Sport Sciences in August 2007. He made substantial contributions to academic life and the growth of UniSC since joining and led the creation of the School of Health and Behavioural Sciences in 2020, which he continued to lead until his retirement in 2022.

John has made significant contributions to grow the student cohort through the introduction of a range of health and allied health degree programs. John introduced paramedicine and occupational therapy in 2008, clinical exercise sciences in 2009, health promotion in 2010, health science in 2016, medical science in 2018 and a number of undergraduate certificates in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 he championed the development of a new program in prosthetics and orthotics making UniSC one of only two institutions in Australia offering this award.

During his time at UniSC, John led the development of research in sport, exercise and health sciences as these disciplines established at UniSC. In the 2018 ERA submission the school achieved an 'At World Standard' rating for medical and health sciences, human movement and sport science and medical microbiology. His personal research interests cover cancer control and injury prevention. He has worked in the area of intervention studies for the cessation of smoking among adults, pregnant women, and among youth. He has published more than 165 articles that have a h-index of 37, as recorded on Scopus. He personally led a number of research projects and was a co-supervisor for ten students completing PhDs and research masters whilst at UniSC.

Since commencing at UniSC in 2007, in addition to leading and managing the school, John has continuously played key roles in management, leadership and governance at both a school and university level. He has made important contributions to Academic Board, Clinical Board and was a key member of the university involved in establishing the Sunshine Coast Health Institute.