Dr. Robertson Named a Finalist for D CEO Excellence in Healthcare Awards

John Robertson, M.D., pulmonologist, was named a finalist for the “Outstanding Healthcare Innovator” award in the D CEO 2025 Excellence in Healthcare Awards which recognize achievement and impact of health care in North Texas. This achievement, out of 150 nominations, speaks volumes about the innovative, patient-first approach that is the core of Cook Children’s. Cook Children’s is proud to recognize Dr. Robertson.

Dr. Robertson has led the team at the Exercise Respiratory Center at Cook Children’s – Prosper since it opened in October 2023, which is one of three centers in the country that helps pediatric patients with exercise-induced breathing issues. He has been a pioneer in this highly specialized field, which has changed the game for athletes who are seeking new diagnosis and treatment beyond asthma so they can return to their sports. Often, his patients have already tried traditional asthma inhalers without improvement. His dedication to this program has helped over 100 patients achieve a diagnosis and learn how to breathe easier.

“To be a finalist for this award means that our colleagues had to nominate us,” Dr. Robertson said. “Our colleagues work with us intimately and know the details of what we are doing and thought highly enough of it that they paused in their good work to acknowledge ours with this nomination. That means everything to us.”

The Exercise Respiratory Center was one of the first Endowed Chair Awards at Cook Children’s, generously awarded by the Cook Children’s Health Foundation.

“Our patients are frequently competitive athletes who have breathing problems that are so significant that they are faced with the possibility of giving up the sport they love,” Dr. Robertson said. “It’s often a sport they have already dedicated hundreds or even thousands of training hours to. My team and I feel very fortunate and privileged to get to come alongside these amazing young people and give them back their sport, their passion.”

Dr. Robertson and the team completed the world’s first Continuous Bronchoscopy during Exercise in a pediatric patient in August 2024 and regularly conduct Continuous Laryngoscopy during Exercise.

Dr. Robertson and two researchers, Rebecca Brovina, MSHS, BSN, RN, CPN, and Andy Kreutzer, PhD, CSCS, LSSWB, have presented their findings to other researchers and clinicians at conferences and published their work in multiple journals.

Exercise-Induced Breathing Issues

The problem: For many young athletes, traditional evaluations often miss the root cause of the symptoms of breathlessness, chest tightness, wheezing and dizziness while exercise.

The innovation: Dr. Robertson’s multidisciplinary team is one of only a handful of pediatric centers nationwide – and the only one in Texas – to perform Continuous Laryngoscopy during Exercise testing. During this test, Dr. Robertson will use a scope to view the patient’s voice box and vocal cords in real time while the child exercises. This pinpoints conditions like Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (EILO), Exercise-Induced Asthma and dysfunctional breathing.

The Impact: After patients receive their diagnosis, our multidisciplinary team helps them learn how to breathe so they can perform at their fullest capacity. This pioneering approach allows us to provide accurate, definitive diagnoses and individualized treatment plans, getting young patients safely back to the sports and activities they love.

Dr. Robertson aims to raise awareness because these disorders are common enough to be present in every pediatrician’s patient population and may stay unrecognized.

“If these problems go on long enough, they will eventually force an athlete to not only quit their sport, but in some cases quit regular exercise all together,” Dr. Robertson said. “Regular exercise is one of the essential pillars of good health.  The long term effects of these breathing problems can be devastating because of this. For us, a way to prevent these negative long term health effects is to help pediatricians learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of these breathing problems early enough that diagnosis and treatment can be done before deconditioning occurs.”

Dr. Robertson’s next goals for the program are to raise awareness of exercise-induced breathing problems amongst primary care providers, coaches and athletic trainers who work with pre-teens and teenagers across Texas. He also aims to spread awareness of this program’s diagnostic and treatment capabilities to this audience, as well as allergists and ENT clinicians in Texas.

Research Goals

Dr. Robertson and his team will soon be starting a randomized control trial and within five years will complete and publish their findings of the trial, which will use inhaled medication to treat exercise induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO).

The program will soon be starting a different study investigating and characterizing the subtypes of dysfunctional breathing. Within five to 10 years, the team will have completed and published their findings. Then they will use them to design specific physical therapy treatment programs specific to each subtype and hopefully shorten the length of time treatment takes.

This study will be done using the same motion capture technology used by professional sports organizations to analyze and optimize a quarterback’s throw or a batter’s swing.  The team will be using the technology to study breathing patterns and chest wall motion in different sports movements.