By Jennifer Stranges

The Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health (FIRH) has been named an official joint McMaster University-St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton research institute, and Dawn Bowdish, professor in the Department of Medicine, has been named its executive director, effective July 1, 2024.

The FIRH has been informally associated with McMaster and all its researchers carry a McMaster appointment, but it has never been a formally recognized McMaster Institute. Creating a joint university-hospital Institute will be beneficial to both institutions to ensure consistency of governance and administrative policies.

“Congratulations to Dr. Bowdish. The renewal of Dawn’s leadership of this now joint Institute will ensure consistency in the development, administration and promotion of the FIRH’s globally-recognized research, education and clinical services,” says Jonathan Bramson, vice-dean, Research, Faculty of Health Sciences.

Bowdish holds a Canada Research Chair in Aging & Immunity and was appointed executive director of the Institute at St. Joseph’s in 2021, following a $2 million commitment from the  Marta & Owen Boris Foundation. The donation enabled St. Joe’s to recruit and retain an exceptional leader in Dr. Bowdish, who continues to support the FIRH in its ongoing mission to deliver world‐class research, education and clinical services in respiratory health.

Photo: Dr. Dawn Bowdish, Executive Director of the FIRH.

“The Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health has been in operation for over 45 years. Founded in 1978 as the Firestone Regional Chest and Allergy Unit, it has a legacy of providing clinical services, clinical teaching and research. We are pleased to see its affiliation with McMaster formalized and to see Dr. Bowdish’s leadership continue,” says Lehana Thabane, vice-president, Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and professor of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) at McMaster.

Today, the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health is a leader in patient care, education, and research. The interdisciplinary team consists of physicians, surgeons, respiratory therapists, cardiopulmonary technicians, sleep polysomnography technologists, and administrative staff registering 45,000 patients and providing 40,000 clinical tests annually.

“I am delighted to recognize The Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health as a joint McMaster University-St. Joseph’s Healthcare research institution and to see its long history of outstanding research and clinical care focussed on allergic and respiratory diseases continue under the excellent leadership of Dr. Dawn Bowdish as its executive director, who is deeply committed to research in immunology, aging and respiratory diseases,” says Paul O’Byrne, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences. O’Byrne served as executive director of the FIRH from 2000 to 2016.

Firestone Institute researchers are also conducting cutting‐edge work on emerging community concerns, ranging from the long-term health impacts of COVID-19, to investigating the effects of cannabis smoke on the immune system. 

“Our community of researchers includes scientists, clinicians and trainees at all levels, all of whom are passionately committed to improving the lives of those living with lung disease, discovering new treatments and stopping it from developing in the first place. There is no better place to do transformative research in lung health than the Firestone Institute and I’m incredibly proud to support this work by serving as the Firestone’s executive director,” says Dawn Bowdish.