معرفی
Dr. Roma Sehmi is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on mechanisms of airway inflammation in asthma, with particular emphasis on hemopoietic processes in the development of airway eosinophilia and the role of innate lymphoid cells in driving asthma exacerbations.
Dr. Sehmi received her PhD from the Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College (London, UK) and completed post-doctoral fellowship training at Cambridge University, UK and McMaster University. Her educational background has provided a strong foundation for her research in respiratory immunology and inflammation.
Dr. Sehmi's research interests center on understanding cellular mechanisms in asthma and allergic diseases. She has developed methodologies to enumerate and phenotype rare cells in cord blood, bone marrow, blood and airway secretions to understand cell migration during asthmatic responses. Her current work investigates alarmin and neuro-immune pathways regulating pathobiological interactions in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She examines sputum, blood and bone marrow aspirates to understand cross-compartmental effects following allergen exposure and the mechanistic effects of novel biologic therapies.
Dr. Sehmi's work has received funding from national and provincial granting agencies, and she holds several investigator-initiated grants. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles with more than 6100 citations and an h-index of 42 according to Google Scholar. Her research shows a consistent focus on cellular immunology of asthma, with recent work expanding into biologic therapies, innate lymphoid cells, and connections between respiratory and skin manifestations of allergic disease.
- Ontario Lung Association award for research excellence
- Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI)
- Inducted member of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA)
Dr. Sehmi is an active mentor, training graduate and post-doctoral fellows while serving as an area coordinator in the Health Science Graduate program at McMaster University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including "Pathophysiology of Lung Diseases - Asthma and COPD" and "Health Science Communication." As a member of the Clinical Investigator Collaborative, she accelerates testing of investigational medications through Phase IIa-IIb proof-of-concept studies in asthma.
Her laboratory work focuses on cellular mechanisms of airway inflammation, with particular expertise in rare cell enumeration and phenotyping across multiple compartments (blood, bone marrow, airways). Her team investigates how cellular responses differ between various inflammatory phenotypes of respiratory disease.
