Dean of McMaster Medical School appointed to Order of Canada

One of Hamilton’s top doctors is being awarded one of the country’s highest honours.

The governor general announced today that Paul O’Byrne – the dean of McMaster Medical School – is being appointed to the Order of Canada.

And the doctor has a unique perspective on his own medical specialty, which is affecting more and more canadians.

O’Byrne suffered from severe asthma as a kid, like more and more people these days, and that wound up being the focus of his decades-long medical career.

The Order of Canada citation refers to his “exceptional work in expanding our understanding of and ability to treat asthma.”

He says asthma is a disease that’s becoming more common, partly because of climate change leading to things like longer summers.

“The environment is certainly important in causing the disease, particularly with allergens children are allergic to. And then, making allergy symptoms worse, the level of air pollution, the severity of it worldwide, the fact that with climate change there is a changing pattern of allergen exposure, the length of duration of exposure is changing,” O’Byrne said.

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But he thinks asthma treatments are effective, saying the recent COVID-19 pandemic taught doctors a series of lessons.

“My major reaction is how unprepared we were when this happened. Everybody knew, we still know, that these pandemics have occurred and will continue to occur” O’Byrne said.

And he says we’re not ready for the next one.

“One of the important lessons from this is that we really do need to accept the fact that pandemics are inevitable and will occur. We need to be much more prepared in thinking about how to understand when a pandemic begins, to slow its spread,” O’Byrne said

He says schools like McMaster University have to use their research and expertise to develop rapid responses to pandemics, and Canada has to invest in preparation.

“The next one we hope won’t occur for another 50 or 60 years but it could occur in the next two years.”

O’Byrne says he’s inspired by previous Order of Canada recipients from McMaster, as a school that broke new ground when it opened in 1969.

As dean of the school, he says it’s now setting an example for other universities.

“It was very experimental, and I think quite high risk. And now the changes that McMaster has introduced have become the standard for medical schools around the world.”