Rate My Professor Dawn Bowdish

Dawn Bowdish is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University and holds the Canada Research Chair in Aging & Immunity. She earned a BSc from the University of Guelph, a PhD from the University of British Columbia where she studied the anti-infective properties of antimicrobial peptides under Prof. Bob Hancock, and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Oxford with Prof. Siamon Gordon focusing on how macrophages recognize bacteria that cause tuberculosis. She established her laboratory at McMaster University in 2009. Her research examines macrophage phagocytosis, the influence of macrophages on the upper respiratory tract microbiome, recognition and destruction of Streptococcus pneumoniae, age-associated changes in the immune system, responses to vaccination in older adults, and factors contributing to susceptibility to respiratory infections such as pneumonia and COVID-19. She serves as Executive Director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health and maintains affiliations with the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, the McMaster Immunology Research Centre, and the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. Bowdish has received the Pfizer-ASPIRE award, the G. Jeannette Thorbecke Award from the Society for Leukocyte Biology, election to the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists in 2020, the McMaster Student Union Award for Teaching in the Community, and the 2025 Research Canada Leadership in Advocacy Award. Her laboratory is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative, and the Lung Association. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Lung Health Foundation.

Bowdish advocates for increased research funding in lung health and improved vaccination strategies for older adults and individuals with chronic lung disease. Her work aims to understand mechanisms of immune remodeling with age and to develop approaches that support healthier aging by reducing infection risk and post-infection complications.