What's On News November 2021 Directorship, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine

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Directorship, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine

Friday 26 November 2021

After decades of service, A/Prof Simon Bowler will be standing down as the Director of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and  A/Prof Lucy Burr will be stepping into this important leadership role.

A/Prof Bowler has been a supervisor and mentor to many respiratory specialists across Queensland and continues to be active in the Queensland and National respiratory community, having recently completed a term as the President of the Queensland Branch of the Thoracic Society, a term as a board member for Asthma Australia and recent chairmanship of the Asthma Advisory Committee for Asthma Australia.

In 2018, he was awarded the Fellowship of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand in recognition of his contribution.

Simon has held many senior positions at Mater including, Director of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and Director of Division of Medicine, during which time he championed the development of the Medical Admission and Planning Unit. He also founded the lung cancer multi-disciplinary meeting and co-founded the Respiratory Research Group with Mater Research.

Simon continues to be active in research, with over 1000 citations from his published work in the past 5 years alone.  Simon was one of the original authors demonstrating the effectiveness of Azithromycin in the management of cystic fibrosis – now standard treatment for CF patients globally. In 2020, he was awarded an Associate Professorship with the University of Queensland.

A/Prof Lucy Burr has also been mentored by Simon over the last decade and has been leading the CF and Sleep Medicine team. She has emerged as a key opinion leader in CF and sleep medicine in her own right. She is also an active researcher, including publications in the NEJM demonstrating effectiveness of innovative therapies for CF.

Simon will be continuing as a private VMO at Mater Private Hospital Brisbane and as Chair of the Mater Private Hospital Brisbane Medical Advisory Committee.

Thank you, Simon, for your  service over the last 35 years, as a leader in respiratory and sleep medicine at Mater, and in welcoming and supporting A/Prof Lucy Burr to the Directorship of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine.