She is affiliated with McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC) and the M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Dr. Bowdish's research focuses on how macrophages, which are sentinel cells of the nasopharynx, distinguish between commensals and resident pathogens. Her lab studies how immune control breaks down and how system inflammation contributes to immune defects. Dr. Bowdish completed her PhD training at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Bob Hancock and conducted post-doctoral studies with Professor Siamon Gordon, a world-renowned expert in macrophage biology, at the University of Oxford.