Kari Nadeau

Last updated
Kari Nadeau
Kari CPMC gala BW cropped.jpg
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known forEnvironmental Health & Disease
Scientific career
Fields
  • Allergy / Immunology / Asthma
  • Exposomics
  • Environmental Health
  • Clinical Trials
Institutions Harvard University
Stanford University
Thesis Biochemical studies on protein folding chaperones : Hsp90 and cyclophilin ; and, On trypanosomal enzymes : trypanothione and glutationylspermidine synthetases  (1995)
Doctoral advisor Christopher T. Walsh

Kari C. Nadeau is an American physician-scientist and academic specializing in allergy, asthma, immunology, and exposomics. [1] She is the John Rock Professor of Extreme weatherand Population Studies and serves as Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. [2] She is also a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and Clinics. She is an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University. [3] Nadeau directs the Allergy, Climate, and Exposomics Laboratory, and maintains a clinical practice in allergy, asthma, and immunology for adults and children across multiple institutions.

Contents

She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, [4] the WHO Air Pollution and Health Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) and the U.S. EPA Children’s Health Protection Committee. [5] [6]

Education

After graduating from Haverford College with a degree in biology, [7] Nadeau attended Harvard Medical School via the Medical Scientist Training Program (NIH), and received a PhD in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology and an MD in 1995. She then started an internship and residency in pediatrics. From 1998 to 2002, she worked in the field of biopharmaceuticals and led clinical research to obtain FDA approval for two biologics in the field of Autoimmunity and Oncology, respectively. From 2003 to 2006, Nadeau was a resident and a fellow in Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology. She also did a postdoctoral fellowship in human immune tolerance mechanisms in asthma and allergy. [8]

Career

Nadeau began her academic career at Stanford University, where from 2002 to 2005 she served as a Clinical Instructor for Physical Examination in the General Pediatrics division of the School of Medicine. [9] She advanced to Instructor in the Department of Pediatrics from 2006 to 2008 and, in parallel, became a faculty member of the Stanford Institute of Immunity, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, as well as the Multidisciplinary Program in Immunology at the School of Medicine. [10] In 2008 she was appointed Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Immunology and Allergy, along with a courtesy appointment as Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology. [11] Between 2020 and 2023, she received a courtesy appointment as Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, and from 2021 to 2023 she was affiliated with the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. [12]

In 2023 Nadeau joined the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as the John Rock Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health. [9] She also became a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2024, while retaining her role as Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University. At Harvard, she directs the Allergy, Climate, and Exposomics Laboratory, an interdisciplinary program integrating environmental exposures research with immunology, clinical medicine, and public health. [13]

Research

Nadeau’s research spans the intersections of environmental exposures, immunology, allergy, and clinical intervention. [14] [15] Her work integrates exposomics—the comprehensive study of lifetime environmental exposures—with immunologic and epigenetic analysis, focusing on public health, pediatric allergy, and climate-related health challenges. [16] She has combined basic laboratory science with clinical studies and policy engagement, aiming to translate mechanistic insights into improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies for environmentally-mediated diseases. [17] [18] [19] [20]

Environmental Exposures, Extreme weatherExtreme weather, and Immunity

At Harvard, Nadeau leads the Allergy, Climate, and Exposomics Laboratory, which investigates how environmental factors, particularly those intensified by climate change, affect immune function and public health. [21]

Her research examines wildfire smoke, air pollution, microplastics, and other climate-driven exposures, with a focus on high-risk populations such as children, pregnant individuals, first responders, and underserved communities. [22] Over more than three decades, she has studied how environmental and epigenetic factors contribute to immune dysfunction, incorporating exposomics to evaluate the cumulative effects of multiple exposures over time in adults, children, and pregnant women [23]

Food Allergy Mechanisms and Clinical Trials

A major component of Nadeau’s research has focused on the prevention and treatment of food allergies. While at Stanford, she directed the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, where she led clinical trials in oral immunotherapy aimed at inducing immune tolerance, particularly in children at risk for single and multiple food allergies. [24] Among these efforts was the phase 2 POISED study, which evaluated sustained unresponsiveness in patients who had completed peanut oral immunotherapy and were monitored for immune biomarkers and long-term outcomes. [25]

Honors and awards

Nadeau and her work have made a number of media appearances supporting food allergy awareness and research:

References

  1. By (2025-06-04). "'The questions we're addressing are not liberal or conservative': Harvard researchers speak out on funding cuts | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health" . Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  2. "Kari Nadeau". connects.catalyst.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  3. "Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD's Profile | Stanford Profiles". profiles.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  4. "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". 9 October 2023.
  5. "CHPAC Committee Members". 21 July 2020.
  6. "Commission Members". www.usda.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  7. "HAVERFORD-Spring-Summer-2013" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2020-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. Nadeau, Kari C.; Callejas, Angel; Wong, Wendy B.; Joh, Jae Won; Cohen, Harvey J.; Jeng, Michael R. (December 2008). "Idiopathic neutropenia of childhood is associated with Fas/FasL expression". Clinical Immunology. 129 (3): 438–447. doi:10.1016/j.clim.2008.08.006. ISSN   1521-6616. PMC   4161459 . PMID   18819843.
  9. 1 2 Krupnick, Max J. (2023-06-05). "Kari Nadeau | Harvard Magazine". www.harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
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  11. Battelle, John (2025-05-06). "Clinical Breakthroughs | Kari Nadeau, M.D., Ph.D. Joins DOC 2025 Faculty". DOC. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  12. "Our Exclusive Interview with Kari C. Nadeau, an American Physician-Scientist Focused on Allergy & Asthma Treatment at Stanford University School of Medicine. - Bay Area Women Magazine". bayareawomenmag.com. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  13. Biddle, Jennifer S. (2025-01-31). "Seminar: Dr. Kari C. Nadeau on "The effects of air pollution exposure during pregnancy in humans" | Environmental Health Sciences Center". environmentalhealth.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  14. Akdis, Cezmi A.; Akdis, Mübeccel; Boyd, Scott D.; Sampath, Vanitha; Galli, Stephen J.; Nadeau, Kari C. (2023). "Allergy: Mechanistic insights into new methods of prevention and therapy" . Science Translational Medicine. 15 (679): eadd2563. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.add2563. PMID   36652536. S2CID   255966491 . Retrieved 2024-01-02.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  15. Kaushik, Abhinav; Dunham, Diane; Han, Xiaorui; Do, Evan; Andorf, Sandra; Gupta, Sheena; Fernandes, Andrea; Kost, Laurie Elizabeth; Sindher, Sayantani B.; Yu, Wong; Tsai, Mindy; Tibshirani, Robert; Boyd, Scott D.; Desai, Manisha; Maecker, Holden T. (2022-11-04). "CD8+ T cell differentiation status correlates with the feasibility of sustained unresponsiveness following oral immunotherapy". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 6646. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34222-8 . ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   9636180 . PMID   36333296.
  16. Prunicki, Mary; Cauwenberghs, Nicholas; Ataam, Jennifer Arthur; Movassagh, Hesam; Kim, Juyong Brian; Kuznetsova, Tatiana; Wu, Joseph C.; Maecker, Holden; Haddad, Francois; Nadeau, Kari (2022-11-28). "Correction: Immune biomarkers link air pollution exposure to blood pressure in adolescents". Environmental Health. 21 (1): 117. Bibcode:2022EnvHe..21..117P. doi: 10.1186/s12940-022-00916-1 . ISSN   1476-069X. PMC   9703689 . PMID   36443731.
  17. Goshua, Anna; Akdis, Cezmi A.; Nadeau, Kari C. (July 2022). "World Health Organization global air quality guideline recommendations: Executive summary". Allergy. 77 (7): 1955–1960. doi:10.1111/all.15224. ISSN   1398-9995. PMC   12052406 . PMID   35060140. S2CID   240245347.
  18. Aguilera, Juan; Han, Xiaorui; Cao, Shu; Balmes, John; Lurmann, Fred; Tyner, Tim; Lutzker, Liza; Noth, Elizabeth; Hammond, S. Katharine; Sampath, Vanitha; Burt, Trevor; Utz, P. J.; Khatri, Purvesh; Aghaeepour, Nima; Maecker, Holden (2022-03-14). "Increases in ambient air pollutants during pregnancy are linked to increases in methylation of IL4, IL10, and IFNγ". Clinical Epigenetics. 14 (1): 40. doi: 10.1186/s13148-022-01254-2 . ISSN   1868-7083. PMC   8919561 . PMID   35287715.
  19. Jung, Youn Soo; Sampath, Vanitha; Prunicki, Mary; Aguilera, Juan; Allen, Harry; LaBeaud, Desiree; Veidis, Erika; Barry, Michele; Erny, Barbara; Patel, Lisa; Akdis, Cezmi; Akdis, Mubeccel; Nadeau, Kari (2022-12-15). "Characterization and regulation of microplastic pollution for protecting planetary and human health". Environmental Pollution. 315 120442. Bibcode:2022EPoll.31520442J. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120442. ISSN   0269-7491. PMC   12077371 . PMID   36272609. S2CID   253037874.
  20. Movassagh, Hesam; Prunicki, Mary; Kaushik, Abhinav; Zhou, Xiaoying; Dunham, Diane; Smith, Eric M.; He, Ziyuan; Aleman Muench, German R.; Shi, Minyi; Weimer, Annika K.; Cao, Shu; Andorf, Sandra; Feizi, Amir; Snyder, Michael P.; Soroosh, Pejman (July 2023). "Proinflammatory polarization of monocytes by particulate air pollutants is mediated by induction of trained immunity in pediatric asthma". Allergy. 78 (7): 1922–1933. doi:10.1111/all.15692. ISSN   1398-9995. PMID   36929161. S2CID   257580769.
  21. "The Impact of Climate Change on Asthma and Allergies: From Real Time Problems To Real Time Solutions | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health". publichealth.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  22. By (2025-04-04). "Exposure to wildfire smoke linked with worsening mental health conditions | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health" . Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  23. Klibaner-Schiff, Eleanor; Simonin, Elisabeth M.; Akdis, Cezmi A.; Cheong, Ana; Johnson, Mary M.; Karagas, Margaret R.; Kirsh, Sarah; Kline, Olivia; Mazumdar, Maitreyi; Oken, Emily; Sampath, Vanitha; Vogler, Nicholas; Wang, Xiaobin; Nadeau, Kari C. (2024-10-17). "Environmental exposures influence multigenerational epigenetic transmission". Clinical Epigenetics. 16 (1): 145. doi: 10.1186/s13148-024-01762-3 . ISSN   1868-7083. PMC   11487774 . PMID   39420431.
  24. Krempski, James Walter; Dant, Christopher; Nadeau, Kari C. (November 2020). "The origins of allergy from a systems approach". Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 125 (5): 507–516. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2020.07.013. ISSN   1534-4436. PMID   32702411.
  25. Chinthrajah, R. Sharon; Purington, Natasha; Andorf, Sandra; Long, Andrew; O'Laughlin, Katherine L.; Lyu, Shu Chen; Manohar, Monali; Boyd, Scott D.; Tibshirani, Robert; Maecker, Holden; Plaut, Marshall; Mukai, Kaori; Tsai, Mindy; Desai, Manisha; Galli, Stephen J. (2019-10-19). "Sustained outcomes in oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy (POISED study): a large, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study". Lancet. 394 (10207): 1437–1449. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31793-3. ISSN   1474-547X. PMC   6903389 . PMID   31522849.
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