Dr. Stephania Cormier

Wiener Chair Professor
BMB/CDIB Division

Associate Vice President for Health & Human Security, Office of Research and Economic Development

Honorary Professor Child Health , University of Queensland, Australia
Honors BS - Biology and Chemistry, 1991, University of Louisiana
PhD - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1997
Louisiana State University Medical Center
Fellowship: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, AZ

Lab: Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC)
Office Phone: 225-578-2806 (Teams) / 225-763-2691 (PBRC)
Office: L1016 PBRC / ORED 130 D. Boyd
E-mail: [email protected] 

Area of Interest

Respiratory Immunology & Toxicology

The main goal of my laboratory is to determine if exposure during early life to environmental factors (i.e. allergens, pollutants, and respiratory viruses) leads to predisposition, development of, or exacerbation of respiratory disease in the adult. We believe that adult respiratory diseases result, in part, from environmental impacts that occur during a critical phase of immuno-maturation. In the short term, we seek:

1. to define the cellular and molecular changes in the pulmonary microenvironment following gestational and/or neonatal exposure
2. to determine if urban pollutants (e.g. particulates such as diesel exhaust particles), initiate cellular/molecular events in the developing lung which lead to increased susceptibility to airways disease later in life
3. to define the impact of respiratory viral infection on pulmonary pathophysiology of the infant; and
4. to understand how urban pollutants impact host defense resulting in enhanced morbidity and increased mortality from respiratory infections

The long-term objective of my laboratory is to realize the initiators of the immune and pathophysiological changes that occur during the early stages of pulmonary airways disease and ultimately to develop effective interventions and therapies.  

Selected Publications

Complete list of publications

Vilcins, D. et al. Assessing the Impact of Wildfire Smoke Exposure on Lung Health: A Pilot Feasibility Study Using Prescribed Fires as a Model. Am J Respir Crit Care Med (2024).

Vilcins, D. et al. Updates in Air Pollution: Current Research and Future Challenges. Annals of global health 90, 9 (2024).

Laurent, O. et al. Citizen science in environmental health research: A comparison with conventional approaches and creation of a guidance tool issued from the LILAS initiative. Environ Res 252, 118914 (2024).

Khachatryan, L. et al. New Features of Laboratory-Generated EPFRs from 1,2-Dichlorobenzene (DCB) and 2-Monochlorophenol (MCP). ACS Omega 9, 9226-9235 (2024).

Immanuel, C.N. et al. Two-pore potassium channel TREK-1 (K2P2.1) regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activity in macrophages. Am J Physiol-Lung C 326, L367-L376 (2024).

Cormier, S.A. & Kappen, C. Identification of a Chondrocyte-Specific Enhancer in the Hoxc8 Gene. J Dev Biol 12 (2024).

Aryal, A. et al. Inhalation of particulate matter containing environmentally persistent free radicals induces endothelial dysfunction mediated via AhR activation at the air-blood interface. Toxicol Sci 199, 246-260 (2024).

Zhu, Y. et al. International Pediatric COVID-19 Severity Over the Course of the Pandemic. JAMA Pediatr 177, 1073-1084 (2023).

Yu, Q. et al. Associations of COVID-19 Hospitalizations, ICU Admissions, and Mortality with Black and White Race and Their Mediation by Air Pollution and Other Risk Factors in the Louisiana Industrial Corridor, March 2020-August 2021. Int J Env Res Pub He 20 (2023).

Yamamoto, A. et al. Environmentally persistent free radicals enhance SARS-CoV-2 replication in respiratory epithelium. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 248, 271-279 (2023).

Willis, K.A. et al. The fungal intestinal microbiota predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birthweight newborns. medRxiv (2023).

Lee, W.R. et al. Household characteristics associated with environmentally persistent free radicals in house dust in two Australian locations. medRxiv (2023).

Empey, K.M., Fixman, E.D., Cormier, S., Kolls, J.K. & Piedimonte, G. Editorial: Neonatal host immune responses to pulmonary infections. Front Immunol 14, 1219844 (2023).

Aryal, A. et al. Environmentally persistent free radicals: Methods for combustion generation, whole-body inhalation and assessing cardiopulmonary consequences. Environ Pollut 334, 122183 (2023).

Yu, Q. et al. Risk factors among Black and White COVID-19 patients from a Louisiana Hospital System, March, 2020 - August, 2021. medRxiv (2022).

Vu, L.D. et al. IL-1beta Promotes Expansion of IL-33(+) Lung Epithelial Stem Cells after Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection during Infancy. Am J Resp Cell Mol 66, 312-322 (2022).

Noel, A. et al. Genomic Basis for Individual Differences in Susceptibility to the Neurotoxic Effects of Diesel Exhaust. Int J Mol Sci 23 (2022).

Liu, J. et al. Increased alveolar epithelial TRAF6 via autophagy-dependent TRIM37 degradation mediates particulate matter-induced lung metastasis. Autophagy 18, 971-989 (2022).

Khachatryan, L. et al. Metal-Free Biomass-Derived Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (Bio-EPFRs) from Lignin Pyrolysis. ACS Omega 7, 30241-30249 (2022).

Cormier, S.A., Yamamoto, A., Short, K.R., Vu, L. & Suk, W.A. Environmental Impacts on COVID-19: Mechanisms of Increased Susceptibility. Annals of global health 88, 94 (2022).

Christofferson, R.C. & Cormier, S.A. Beyond the Unknown: A Broad Framing for Preparedness for Emerging Infectious Threats. Am J Trop Med Hyg (2022).

Vu, L.D. et al. Deficiency in ST2 signaling ameliorates RSV-associated pulmonary hypertension. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 321, H309-H317 (2021).

Violi, A. et al. Combustion by-products and their health effects: Summary of the 16th international congress. Fuel (Lond) 283 (2021).

Sly, P.D. et al. The interplay between environmental exposures and COVID-19 risks in the health of children. Environ Health 20, 34 (2021).

Oyana, T.J. et al. Particulate matter exposure predicts residence in high-risk areas for community acquired pneumonia among hospitalized children. Exp Biol Med (Maywood), 15353702211014456 (2021).

Kumar, A., Patel, V.S., Harding, J.N., You, D. & Cormier, S.A. Exposure to combustion derived particulate matter exacerbates influenza infection in neonatal mice by inhibiting IL22 production. Part Fibre Toxicol 18, 43 (2021).

Harding, J.N., Gross, M., Patel, V., Potter, S. & Cormier, S.A. Association between particulate matter containing EPFRs and neutrophilic asthma through AhR and Th17. Resp Res 22, 275 (2021).

Guan, X., Truong, L., S, M.L., R, L.T. & S, A.C. Developmental Hazard of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals and Protective Effect of TEMPOL in Zebrafish Model. Toxics 9 (2021).

Flanagan, T.W. et al. Structure-Activity Relationship Analysis of Psychedelics in a Rat Model of Asthma Reveals the Anti-Inflammatory Pharmacophore. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 4, 488-502 (2021).

Christofferson, R.C. et al. Reduced turnaround times through multi-sectoral community collaboration during the first surge of SARS-CoV-2 and associated effect on patient care and hospital operations. Plos One 16, e0257302 (2021).

Christofferson, R.C. et al. Reduced turnaround times through multi-sectoral community collaboration during the first surge of SARS-CoV-2 and associated effect on patient care and hospital operations. Plos One 16, e0257302 (2021).

Willis, K.A. et al. Perinatal maternal antibiotic exposure augments lung injury in offspring in experimental bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Am J Physiol-Lung C 318, L407-L418 (2020).

Willis, K.A., Pierre, J.F., Cormier, S.A. & Talati, A.J. Mice without a microbiome are partially protected from lung injury by hyperoxia. Am J Physiol-Lung C 318, L419-L420 (2020).

Smallwood, H.S. et al. Dynamic metabolic reprogramming in innate immune cells: an early response to influenza infection that is essential for effector function. J Immunol 204 (2020).

Siefker, D.T. et al. Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease Severity Is Associated with Distinct CD8(+) T-Cell Profiles. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 201, 325-334 (2020).

Kimura, D. et al. Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension Is Associated with Arginase Upregulation and Nitric Oxide Synthase Uncoupling. Am J Resp Crit Care 201 (2020).

Immanuel, C.N. et al. TREK-1 Activation Is Required for Inflammasome Activity Through Augmentation of Macrophage Membrane Polarization. Am J Resp Crit Care 201 (2020).

Harding, J.N. et al. Altered gut microbiota in infants is associated with respiratory syncytial virus disease severity. BMC Microbiol 20, 140 (2020).

Boyd, D.F. et al. Exuberant fibroblast activity compromises lung function via ADAMTS4. Nature 587, 466-471 (2020).

Bahadoran, A. et al. Targeting Metabolic Reprogramming of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection. J Immunol 204 (2020).

Willis, K.A. et al. The Intestinal Commensal Bacteria Promote Resistance to Lung Injury in Experimental Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. J Invest Med 67, 538-538 (2019).

Vu, L.D. et al. Elevated Levels of Type 2 Respiratory Innate Lymphoid Cells in Human Infants with Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 200, 1414-1423 (2019).

Sly, P.D. et al. Children's Environmental Health in South and Southeast Asia: Networking for Better Child Health Outcomes. Annals of global health 85 (2019).

Sly, P.D., Cormier, S.A., Lomnicki, S., Harding, J.N. & Grimwood, K. Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals: Linking Air Pollution and Poor Respiratory Health? Am J Respir Crit Care Med 200, 1062-1063 (2019).

Immanuel, C.N. et al. Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase-1 promotes inflammasome priming in macrophages. Am J Physiol-Lung C 316, L418-L427 (2019).

Hijano, D.R. et al. Role of Type I Interferon (IFN) in the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Immune Response and Disease Severity. Front Immunol 10, 566 (2019).

Ghimire, A. et al. Polybrominated Diphenylethers (PBDEs) in ambient air samples at the electronic waste (e-waste) reclamation site. Waste Dispos Sustain Energy 1, 79-89 (2019).

Flanagan, T.W. et al. 5-HT2 receptor activation alleviates airway inflammation and structural remodeling in a chronic mouse asthma model. Life Sci 236, 116790 (2019).

Adgent, M.A. et al. Maternal childhood and lifetime traumatic life events and infant bronchiolitis. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 33, 262-270 (2019).

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