Dr Anita Biswas, class of 1987

After leaving Croydon High School in 1987, Anita studied medicine at Nottingham University, England, and for a Masters’ degree in Sports Medicine at the Royal London Hospital (Queen Mary and Westfield College), before working at Headley Court, the Military Medical Rehabilitation centre and completing General Practice training. She completed a Clinical Fellowship in Sports Medicine at the Department of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and has worked full-time in Sport and Exercise Medicine since.

Anita has worked in elite sport for over twenty-five years, with various national and international sports teams working at the Olympic Medical Institute, The British Olympic Association Intensive Rehabilitation Unit and the English Institute of Sport.

She has attended three summer and one winter Paralympic Games, The Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and the Olympics in both London and Rio, as well as numerous European and World Championships with a variety of sports. She has been a tournament doctor for the Men’s and Women’s professional tennis tours for over twenty years and is currently the lead physician at Wimbledon.

Anita has had responsible roles as part of the 2012 Olympics Work Groups, British Olympic Association Medical Steering Committee and, UK Sport Anti-Doping Work Group, BASEM executive committee, and is a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and a Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine. She is a member of the Medical Panel for the England Cricket Board, travelling regularly with the Men’s cricket team. Fascinatingly, Anita is also medical advisor for Mint Diagnostics whose mission is to revolutionise the way female hormone data is collected and processed.

In her position as the Head of Sports Medicine at the English Institute of Sport, she has a strategic role responsible for optimising athlete health, co-leading the Female Athlete Health and Performance Programme. As part of this programme, she has worked with a start-up company to develop award-winning cutting-edge technology which can be used to monitor female cycling hormones.

Anita is passionate about keeping athletes playing their sports, keeping active people active, regardless of their age, and helping inactive people become active. She has a holistic approach, treating not only the injury but also addressing the underlying causes, working closely with allied professionals, e.g. physiotherapists and osteopaths, to optimise care.

We asked Anita about her time at Croydon High. “My fondest memory is of Mrs Davin-Looby Head of Music, telling us that we were decking the hall with bits of rubbish when we decimated a Christmas carol whilst practising for a school concert. She was a wonderful teacher and inspiring talent.” She went on to say “Another inspiring teacher Mrs Trickey helped me to develop a determination to never give up. Despite not being naturally academic that determination allowed me to follow my dream of going to the Olympics as a doctor.”

Anita told us “I would like to see research into female athlete health and performance explode. So much of the training research used to train Olympic and Paralympic athletes has been carried out in men due to the challenges with working around the menstrual cycle. However, women’s sport is growing and unless the science keeps up, female athletes will never be as good as they could be. I would love to see those who finance sports and health research to recognise that understanding best how to work with the menstrual cycle will help improve the health as well as the performance of exercising females and those participating in sports.”

When it comes to enjoying her spare time, “I fill every minute, so don’t really have spare time. But if I am not working or driving my teenagers around, I will be on the water: kayaking, paddleboarding or windsurfing. I love cycling and playing cricket with an ‘old ladies’ softball team”

Anita would tell her 15-year-old self “There will always be positive and negative people: hear the positive voices louder than the negative ones. Be the best you can be: that will be good enough.”

Anita was delighted to hear that Cricket has returned to the curriculum at Croydon High, especially now that we have benefited from a brand-new cricket wicket following a generous legacy from alumna Susan-Ann Dowle.

Mrs Karen Roe
Alumnae Relations Manager