Martin R. Stämpfli
, PhD
Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine
Division: Molecular Medicine
McMaster Immunology Research Centre
Respiratory Diseases and Allergy
Associate Member: Department of Medicine
McMaster University
4011 Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery
905-525-9140 ext. 22493
stampfli@mcmaster.ca

Faculty Biography
Education and Professional Standing
- PhD, University of Bern (Switzerland), 1995
Interests
Research Focus
My research focus is on the impact of cigarette smoke on the immune system and its implications to smoking-related diseases. I have held several career awards including a Parker B. Francis Scholarship (USA), a CIHR New Investigator Award, and received the Respiratory 2000 International Young Investigator Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in basic research.
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). Specific focus is placed on cigarette smoke’s impact on innate and adaptive respiratory immune defense mechanisms. The goal of our research is to develop novel interventions to restore immune function and mitigate inflammation in COPD.
Academic Interests
Dr. Stampfli is involved in teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate level within the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Team Members
Technical staff:
Joanna Kasinska
MSc Students:
Joshua McGrath, Danya Thayaparan, Steven Cass
Selected Former Trainees
Swirski, Filip, PhD,Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Robbins, Clinton, PhD,Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and Immunology, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Pouladi, Mahmoud, PhD, Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Morissette, Mathieu, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
Selected Publications
Visit Dr Stampfli's McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC) web profile for further information
Selected Publications
- Cigarette Smoke Attenuates the Nasal Host Response to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Predisposes to Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Mice. Shen P, Morissette MC, Vanderstocken G, Gao Y, Hassan M, Roos A, Thayaparan D, Merlano M, Dorrington MG, Nikota JK, Bauer CM, Kwiecien JM, Labiris R, Bowdish DM, Stevenson CS, Stämpfli MR. Infect Immun. 2016 Apr 22;84(5):1536-47.
- Disruption of pulmonary lipid homeostasis drives cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice. Morissette MC, Shen P, Thayaparan D, Stämpfli MR. Eur Respir J. 2015 Nov;46(5):1451-60.
- IL-17A and the Promotion of Neutrophilia in Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Roos AB, Sethi S, Nikota J, Wrona CT, Dorrington MG, Sandén C, Bauer CM, Shen P, Bowdish D, Stevenson CS, Erjefält JS, Stampfli MR. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015 Aug 15;192(4):428-37.
- Immune Function and Autoimmune Disease.32rd Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress. Anderson GP and Stampfli MR. 2014: 545-571.
- How cigarette smoke skews immune responses to promote infection, lung disease and cancer. Stämpfli MR, Anderson GP. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009 May;9(5):377-84.