Robert F.E. Stier Lecture
in Medicine
Join us for the
Robert F.E. Stier
Lecture in Medicine
March 11, 2026
3:30 – 5:30 PM
WSU Spokane Campus, College of Nursing Building, Room 105
103 E Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99202
Light refreshments will be served. This event is open to the public at no cost.
If you require ADA accommodations to participate in this event, please contact Heather Byrd (heather.byrd@wsu.edu).
Sleep and Other Solutions to Effective Treatments of Substance Use Disorders
Kelly Dunn, PhD, MBA
Director, Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology; University of Maryland
Accompanied by Panelists:
Sterling M. McPherson, PhD
Vice Dean for Research, Professor, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine; WSU
Denise Dillard, PhD, MS
Director of IREACH, Professor, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine; WSU
Matt Layton, MD, PhD
Professor, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine; WSU
About Robert F.E. Stier, Spokane Physician, Businessman
In 1921, Dr. Robert F. E. Stier and Guy Hollister started the first clinical laboratory in Spokane outside of the hospitals and prepared their first batch of allergy medicine. The company grew into the international HollisterStier pharmaceutical manufacturing company that still has a division in Spokane. Stier was also a pathologist at St. Luke’s Hospital in Spokane and developed an extensive service area for lab and tissue pathology services in eastern Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and British Columbia. Stier and Hollister added sales of allergy products to the regional service area, and the company eventually expanded its territory nationally and internationally until Hollister Stier Laboratories became the largest allergen manufacturer in the world. In 2017, the Hollister Stier pharmaceutical manufacturing division in Spokane was bought by Jubilant Life Sciences headquartered in India.
Stier also started one of the earliest postgraduate education programs in the region. Teaching bacteriology and pathology to students and interns at St. Luke’s Hospital, and Gonzaga University. He also lectured at Whitworth, EWU, and WSU in Spokane. Robert F. E. Stier’s influence in the community extended to medical practice, teaching, and business that helped to make Spokane the medical and educational center that we find today. His two sons – Robert A. and Alton R. Stier – both became physicians and businessmen in Spokane and joined together to honor their father with the Robert F.E. Stier Lecture in Medicine at WSU Spokane. Lectures began in 1996 with the purpose of featuring key leaders in medicine whose works have increased professional and public understanding of new technologies and challenging issues.
