As part of the MI4 Highlights Series, Deborah Assayag, MD, was recently interviewed by McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4) to reflect on her journey that started with a focused commitment to interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and led to one of the Department of Medicine’s 2024 Emerging World-Class Teams.
What began as an ambitious idea, to study autoimmunity and ILD across multiple institutions, has evolved into a highly collaborative and impactful research network. With early support from MI4, Dr. Assayag and her colleagues brought together researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, the Lady Davis Institute, and other partner institutions. This effort helped break down long-standing silos, enabling the team to recruit trainees, establish a patient registry and biobank, and begin analyzing samples to better understand complex lung diseases.
Recognition as an Emerging World-Class Team by the McGill Department of Medicine represents a major milestone for ILD research. Historically under-recognized, ILD is now gaining visibility as a serious and devastating condition. Through growing collaborations, including partnerships with the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, awareness and research momentum are increasing across Canada and beyond.
A defining strength of the team lies in its multidisciplinary expertise that bringing together leaders in immunology, clinical research, and innovative technologies such as lung-on-a-chip models. At its core, the research remains grounded in patient care. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Assayag continues to be guided by the needs of individuals living with ILD and the urgent need for more effective therapies.
Through collaboration, leadership, and a shared vision, this team is advancing both scientific discovery and clinical impact, demonstrating how initiatives like MI4 can catalyze meaningful progress in complex diseases.
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MI4 Highlights Series | From Opportunity to Impact: Building a World-Class ILD Research Team. by Ina Munten-Bors. MI4 Highlight Series. March 12, 2026.