Martin R. Stämpfli

, PhD

Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine

Division: Molecular Medicine

Centre for Gene Therapeutics, Respiratory Diseases and Allergy

McMaster University
4011 Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery
905-525-9140 ext. 22493
stampfli@mcmaster.ca

Assistant: Marie Bailey

Currently accepting Graduate Students
Currently accepting Post Doctoral Fellows

Education and Professional Standing

• PhD, University of Bern (Switzerland), 1995

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Interests

Research Focus

The goal of my research program is to understand how environmental and infectious agents, alone or in combination, influence innate and adaptive immune responses in the respiratory tract and the contribution of these changes to the pathogenesis of respiratory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

The respiratory mucosa is in constant contact with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic environmental agents. A complex, hierarchical defense system protects the host against harmful environmental agents through a combination of physical barriers, and innate and adaptive immune mechanisms. Mounting evidence suggests that microbial burden and virulence, as well as the state of the host defense, critically determine the nature of a response to a given entity. Understanding factors that alter the state of host defense will, therefore, provide insight into the pathogenesis of respiratory disorders. While the use of animal models has contributed significantly to our understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying respiratory illnesses, most of these models were developed as a “one agent-one disease” concept. Specifically, disease processes or intervention strategies were studied in models that were established in specific pathogen-free animals by exposure to a single agent. This experimental approach, however, does not accurately reflect the real-life scenario as humans and animals are continuously and simultaneously exposed, via the respiratory tract, to multiple environmental agents.

A key focus of my research program is on the impact of cigarette smoke on innate and adaptive respiratory immune defense mechanisms. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in adults globally and tobacco’s adverse health effects are believed, at least in part, to be due to its impact on the immune system. I hypothesized that cigarette smoking suppresses respiratory host defense mechanisms. Thus, relatively non-virulent and opportunistic pathogens are dealt with inefficiently, necessitating the recruitment of immune/inflammatory cells to compensate for these local deficiencies. This causes excessive, unwarranted inflammation and, clinically, signs of infection. To date, we have shown that cigarette smoke attenuates alveolar macrophage and natural killer cell function in the lungs and exacerbates immune inflammatory processes elicited by viruses and bacteria. Furthermore, cigarette smoke affects immune inflammatory processes elicited by aeroallergens; it facilitates allergic sensitization to surrogate allergens, while attenuating the ensuing eosinophilic inflammation. Recently, we have also linked impaired innate immunity with ineffective clearance of transformed cells and increased respiratory tumor burden in mice.

More recently, we have initiated investigation of how viral infections influence subsequent bacterial super-infection and vice versa. These studies are based on the clinical observation that, in humans, respiratory viral infection predisposes to subsequent and often fatal bacterial super-infection with what are otherwise relatively avirulent bacterial pathogens. This research is a natural evolution from our studies in smoke-exposed mice and clearly shows that immune history impacts the state of host defense. Overall, our experimental approach is quite unique and will contribute to our understanding of the pathogenesis of respiratory disorders.

Academic Interests

Dr. Stampfli is involved in teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate level within the Faculty of Health Sciences.  In particular, he teaches the Bachelor of Health Sciences class HTH SCI 4II3, Advanced Immunology.

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Team Members

Technical Staff

Sussan Kianpour, Joanna Kasinska

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Fernado Botelho

Graduate Students

Carla Bauer, Gordon Gaschler, Jake Nikota, Nancy Trimble, Cale Zavitz, Pamela Shen

Undergraduate Students

Ashling Kelly, Jagbir Khinda, Kristen Lambert

Selected Publications

• Stämpfli MR, Anderson GP. How cigarette smoke skews immune responses to promote infection, lung disease and cancer. . Nat Rev Immunol. 2009 May;9(5):377-84.
• Gaschler GJ, Skrtic M, Zavitz CC, Lindahl M, Onnervik PO, Murphy TF, Sethi S, Stämpfli MR. Bacteria Challenge in Smoke Exposed Mice Exacerbates Inflammation and Skews the Inflammatory Profile. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 Apr 15;179(8):666-75. Epub 2009 Jan 29.
• Trimble NJ, Botelho FM, Bauer CM, Fattouh R, Stämpfli MR. Adjuvant and anti-inflammatory properties of cigarette smoke in murine allergic airway inflammation. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2009 Jan;40(1):38-46. Epub 2008 Jul 17.
• Gaschler, G.J., Bauer C.M.T., Zavitz C.C.J., and Stämpfli, M.R. Animal Models of COPD Exacerbations. In: Models of Exacerbations in Asthma and COPD. Eds U. Sjöbring and J.D. Taylor, Contrib Microbiol., Karger, Basel, Switzerland, Volume 14, p.p. 126-141, 2007.
• Lu, L.M., Zavitz, C.C.J, Chen, B., Kianpour, S., Wan, Y. and Stämpfli, M.R. Cigarette smoke impairs NK-cell-dependent tumor immune surveillance. J. Immunol. 178:936-43, 2007.
• Robbins, C.S., Bauer, C.M.T., Vujicic, N., Gaschler, G., Lichty, B., Brown, E.G., and Stämpfli, M.R. Cigarette smoke impacts immune inflammatory responses to influenza in mice. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 174:1342-51, 2006.
• Drannik, A.G., Pouladi, M.A., Robbins, C.S., Goncharova, S.I., Kianpour, S., and Stämpfli, M.R. Impact of cigarette smoke on clearance and inflammation after Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 170(11):1164-71, 2004.