The Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health (FIRH) is a world-renowned center for the investigation and treatment of respiratory disease

Respiratory disease

Respiratory disease is a medical term that encompasses pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange possible in higher organisms, and includes conditions of the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleura and pleural cavity, and the...

s. Based out of St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, the institute is a clinical facility with strong research directions. FIRH faculty are also heavily involved at McMaster University

McMaster University

McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...

 with education at the undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate and continuing medical education levels.

History

Founded in 1978 as the Firestone Regional Chest and Allergy Unit (FRCAU), the institute was designated as the Regional Referral Center by the District Health Council. The institute has maintained this designation, and as of 2006, it services the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network, a community of 1.4 million people. The institute's research developed in collaboration with clinical activities in order to comprehensively investigate mechanisms and outcomes. Accordingly, a number of asthma

Asthma

Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...

 and COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , also known as chronic obstructive lung disease , chronic obstructive airway disease , chronic airflow limitation and chronic obstructive respiratory disease , is the co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases...

 initiatives were launched, including the development of standardized techniques for symptom assessment, airflow limitation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a state characterised by easily triggered bronchospasm ....

. Further investigations have included studies of exercise and allergen-induced bronchoconstriction as well as epidemiological studies examining the relationship between prevalence of respiratory illness and pollution. From 2004-2005, the institute was relocated to four floors of the brand new Juravinski Innovation Tower, where more modern research laboratories and expanded clinical facilities were available.

In early March 2009, Firestone researchers demonstrated that an experimental drug, mepolizumab

Mepolizumab

Mepolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes interleukin-5 , and is used to treat certain kinds of asthma and white blood cell diseases....

 can help reduce eosinophil production in sufferers of severe asthma. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine

New England Journal of Medicine

The New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...

 found that treatment with mepolizumab allowed these patients to cut back on treatments of prednisone

Prednisone

Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant drug. It is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases and some types of cancer, but has significant adverse effects...

.

Education

The FIRH has trained over 100 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. In addition to this, the FIRH faculty currently teach numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses at McMaster University.

Research Pursuits

The following is a list of the research areas currently being investigated at the FIRH:

• Population studies of asthma epidemiology and causation
• Studies of asthma management utilizing biomarkers of inflammation
• Investigation of novel pharmaceutical therapies for asthma
• Investigation of novel procedural therapies for asthma and COPD
• Mechanisms of airway hyperresponsiveness and airway remodelling
• Trafficking and lung homing of bone-marrow derived hemopoietic stem cells in allergic asthma and COPD
• Immunobiology of allergic asthma
• Control of airway and vascular smooth muscle structure, function and intracellular signalling
• COPD epidemiology and treatment
• COPD and Respiratory Rehabilitation
• Pathobiology of pulmonary fibrosis
  Pulmonary fibrosis
  Pulmonary fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs. It is also described as "scarring of the lung".-Symptoms:Symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis are mainly:...
  
  
• Clinical trial center for idiopathic
  Idiopathic
  Idiopathic is an adjective used primarily in medicine meaning arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause. From Greek ἴδιος, idios + πάθος, pathos , it means approximately "a disease of its own kind". It is technically a term from nosology, the classification of disease...
  
  pulmonary fibrosis
• Functional and structural imaging of the lung
• Chronic cough