Volunteers are need to participate ... can we count you in ?

Do you have some time to give to help us research breathing problems? Perhaps you know someone who has difficulties, or would like to find out if other treatments are available. Firestone researchers are looking for volunteers to participate in a variety of studies. Some studies provide compensation for your time.

We are currently recruiting people to volunteer to become part of our research volunteer data base. Called PURR at FIRH, the Pulmonary Research Registry (PURR@FIRH) is a Research Ethics Board (REB) approved database which is designed to facilitate patient selection and enrollment into research studies.

St. Joseph's hospital is very serious about research ethics and asked FIRH to develop a process to obtain people's consent before we can ask them to participate in research. We therefore need your permission to contact you about participating in upcoming FIRH studies. We created a confidential database to record those consents.

Participation in the PURR is voluntary and does not include consent to take part in a specific study. By enrolling in the database, held in strict confidence, you give us permission to call you to hear about upcoming studies.

Each time a patient has been found matching the inclusion criteria of a certain study, participation in that study is again voluntary.

PURR is open for everyone -- patients, staff, family, friends of patients and community minded volunteers. You do not need to have a respiratory diagnosis to participate as "healthy volunteer". We need "normals" to compare to others.

Each patient at their scheduled visit at the FIRH clinic has the opportunity to sign up for PURR, giving the research team permission to collect their contact and health information. We have a PURR office right in the clinic to answer your questions and explain the process.

If you are interested in being involved in a clinical trial but don't know who to talk to please feel free to visit the PURR office in the FIrestone clinic or call Dr. Antje Ask 905-522-1155 x32722. Dr. Ask oversees the PURR Project along with Michael Quinn, (Research Manager) at 905 - 522 - 1155 x33140.

Call: 900-522-1155 x32722 or E-Mail: PURR at FIRH

FACEBOOK: Asthmastudy@stjoes.ca (Melanie Kjarsgaard)

 

Firestone Institute posts job opening through St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton or through McMaster University. From time-to-time we will indicate if we are recruiting on this web site. However, you will still need to follow the official process for each institution. If you would like to talk to someone at Firestone please follow the contact FIRH link.

 

Firestone is pleased to welcome clinical and research fellows to join us. If you are interested in finding out how to join us as a research fellow please contact:

Michael Quinn Research Manager @ 905.522.1155 x33140

If you are interested in finding out how to apply as a clinical / research fellow you will need to also talk to:

Diane Lawson @ 905.522.1155 x34929 , who is administrative support for Dr. Lori Whitehead, Education Director for the Respiratory Division at McMaster University

Research at FIRH is particularly strong in the following areas: asthma, small-animal imaging, allergen challenge, progenitor cell biology, induced sputum and markers of airway inflammation, epidemiology of asthma, mechanistic and cellular research, and clinical investigation.

FIRH Research Faculty take on students at the undergraduate and graduate level (Masters and Ph.D.). If you are interested in joining FIRH as a student, please contact the individual faculty member whose area of study aligns with your interest.

FRIH Research Faculty receive many requests from students who would like to volunteer and/or observe. Our recommendation is that you contact a Faculty member directly to express your interest.

FIRH Research Faculty and Specific Areas of Research

Area of Research	Researcher
Population studies of asthma epidemiology and causation.	MR Sears, N Johnston, M Quinn
Studies of asthma management utilizing biomarkers of inflammation.	P Nair, MR Sears, PM O’Byrne
Investigation of novel pharmaceutical therapies for asthma.	PM O’Byrne in collaboration with G Gauvreau, L-P Boulet, JM Fitzgerald, DW Cockcroft
Investigation of novel procedural therapies for asthma and COPD.	G Cox, J Miller, L Janssen
Mechanisms of airway hyperresponsiveness and airway remodelling.	MD Inman, L Janssen, PM O’Byrne
Trafficking and lung homing of  bone-marrow derived hemopoietic stem cells  in allergic asthma and COPD.	R Sehmi, MD Inman, P Nair, PM O’Byrne
Immunobiology of allergic asthma.	M Larché, PM O’Byrne, MD Inman, P Nair
Control of airway and vascular smooth muscle structure, function and intracellular signalling.	LJ Janssen, P Nair, G Cox, M Kolb
COPD epidemiology and treatment.	A McIvor, N Johnston, M Quinn
COPD and Respiratory Rehabilitation.	DC Todd, P Nair
Pathobiology of pulmonary fibrosis.	M Kolb, G Cox, M Inman, R Labiris, L Janssen
Clinical trial center for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.	M Kolb, G Cox
Functional and structural imaging of the lung.	MB Dolovich, NR Labiris, G Cox, P Nair
Chronic cough.	CJ Allen, P Nair