About

Vishal Verma is an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research and education focus on assessing the health impacts of ambient PM2.5. Dr. Verma obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2011. Prior to joining UIUC, he worked as a research scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 2011 to 2015. Over his 15-year research career, he has published 45 peer-reviewed articles in highly ranked journals and has presented his work in numerous seminars, meetings, and conferences, including 30 invited talks. His primary research areas include Environmental Engineering and Science, Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability, and Societal Risk & Hazard Mitigation. Dr. Verma has served as past chair of the Health Related Aerosol working group at AAAR and has received several awards and recognitions, including the NSF CAREER award in 2019, an Honorable Mention for the James J. Morgan Early Career Award, and the UIUC Center for Advanced Study Fellowship for 2021-22.

Research topics

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Environmental science
• Environmental chemistry
• Engineering
• Biochemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Geography
• Ecology
• Environmental engineering
• Medicine
• Bioinformatics
• Nanotechnology
• Biochemical engineering
• Animal science
• Atmospheric sciences
• Materials science
• Physics

Selected publications

• The lure of 'Healthier Smoke': Comparative physical, chemical, and oxidative potential characterization of emissions from herbal and tobacco cigarettes

  Journal of Hazardous Materials · 2026-05-17

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Predictors of Neurological Outcome of Acute Traumatic Central Cord Syndrome: Outcome of a Treatment Algorithm

  Indian Spine Journal · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Background: To assess outcome of surgery following a treatment algorithm in patients with acute traumatic central cord syndrome (ATCCS). Materials and Methods: Surgical outcomes were measured in terms of neurological status (American Spinal Injury Association [ASIA] motor and sensory scores), length of hospital stay, delay in surgery, duration of surgery, and blood loss. Functional outcomes were measured with the visual analog scale, modified Japanese Orthopedic Association score, Neck Disability Index, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure III. Radiological parameters noted were maximal canal compromise (MCC), maximal spinal cord compression (MSCC), extent of parenchymal damage, and segmental kyphosis. Patients of anterior and posterior surgery were compared based on the aforesaid measurements. Results: A total of 35 patients of ATCCS, 16 patients underwent anterior surgery, whereas 19 patients had posterior surgery. As compared to the anterior surgery group, the posterior surgery group had a longer surgery duration ( P value < 0.001) and more blood loss ( P value < 0.001). On regression analysis, there was a significant association between low ASIA scores ( P = 0.02), MCC ( P = 0.04), MSCC ( P = 0.02), and cord parenchymal damage ( P = 0.02) with poor neurological outcomes. Maximal spinal canal compromise, extent of parenchymal damage, and admission ASIA scores are independent risk factors for poor neurological outcomes. Conclusion: Patients with ATCCS with associated instability and/or persistent spinal cord compression can be effectively managed using an algorithm for surgical decision-making with an acceptable rate of complications. Also, surgical delay beyond 72 h may not have a significant impact on neurological recovery. Level of Evidence: III.

  PublisherDOI

• Size-Segregated Chemical Composition and Oxidative Potential of Ambient Ultrafine and Accumulation Mode Particles in Los Angeles

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of urban PM2.5 on primary sinonasal epithelial cells in individuals with chronic rhinosinusitis

  Toxicological Sciences · 2025-10-08 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 µm, a major air pollutant, has been implicated in sinonasal inflammatory diseases such as chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) even at levels below national air quality standards. PM2.5 is thought to exacerbate CRS by compromising the epithelial barrier, impairing mucociliary clearance, and promoting inflammation. However, evidence linking PM2.5 exposure to sinonasal epithelial remodeling remains limited. This study investigated the effects of environmentally relevant doses of urban PM2.5 organic extract (PM2.5 OE) on primary sinonasal epithelial cell cultures derived from individuals with and without CRS. We hypothesized that PM2.5 OE exposure would induce transcriptional changes indicative of mucociliary remodeling, reduce transepithelial resistance, and increase inflammatory cytokine production. Primary nasal epithelial cells from healthy (N = 8) and CRS subjects (N = 10) were differentiated in an air-liquid interface, followed by acute (24-h) and subacute (5-day) exposure to an environmentally relevant dose of PM2.5 OE (9 μg/ml; 1.34 µg/cm2) or the vehicle control. PM2.5 OE exposure did not significantly alter these outcomes, regardless of disease status. Instead, variation was primarily driven by biological sex and CRS, with male CRS samples exhibiting downregulation of cilia assembly pathways. Cytokine production from unexposed cultures demonstrated sex-specific differences, with female-derived cultures displaying a more pro-inflammatory profile, highlighting intrinsic immune variability. These findings underscore the importance of biological sex and disease status when evaluating environmental exposures, suggesting that longer exposures may be necessary to fully capture PM2.5 OE-induced effects. This work highlights the need to investigate the crosstalk between environmental exposures and individual-specific factors influencing CRS disease progression.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Capsid and genome damage are the leading inactivation mechanisms of aerosolized porcine respiratory coronavirus at different relative humidities

  Applied and Environmental Microbiology · 2025-04-07 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Relative humidity (RH) varies widely in indoor environments based on temperature, outdoor humidity, heating systems, and other environmental conditions. This study explored how RH affects aerosolized porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV), a model for coronaviruses, over a time range from 0 min to a maximum of 1 h, and the molecular mechanism behind viral infectivity reduction. These questions were answered by quantifying: (i) viral-host receptor interactions, (ii) capsid integrity, (iii) viral genome integrity, and (iv) virus infectivity. We found RH did not alter PRCV-receptor interactions. RHs 45–55% and 65–75% damaged viral genomes (2 log 10 reduction and 1 log 10 reduction, respectively, in terms of median sample value), whereas RHs 55–65% decreased capsid integrity (2 log 10 reduction). No apparent virion damage was observed in RH 75–85%. Two assays were used to quantify virus presence: qPCR for detecting the viral genomes and plaque-forming unit assay for detecting the virus replication. Our results indicated that the qPCR assay overestimated the concentrations of infectious viruses, and RNase treatment with long-range RT-qPCR performed better than one-step RT-qPCR. We propose that understanding the influence of RH on the stability of aerosolized viruses provides critical information for detecting and preventing the indoor transmission of coronaviruses. IMPORTANCE Indoor environments can impact the stability of respiratory viruses, which can then affect the transmission rates. The mechanisms of how relative humidity (RH) affects virus infectivity still remain unclear. This study found RH inactivates porcine respiratory coronavirus by damaging its capsid and genome. The finding highlights the potential role of controlling indoor RH levels as a strategy to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

  PublisherDOI

• Chemical and Oxidative Properties of Indoor PM: Discerning the Influence of Typical Building and Source Characteristics

  ACS ES&T Air · 2025-12-09 · 1 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Oxidative potential (OP) is an emerging metric of PM-induced toxicity that has been linked to cardio-respiratory health outcomes in recent epidemiological studies. Although people spend almost two-thirds of their time in residential environments, their exposure to the OP of particulate matter (PM) in this critical environment is sparsely studied. Here, we quantify the OP (using dithiothreitol assay) and chemical composition of PM collected from diverse residential environments [22 homes in Champaign-Urbana Region (CUR), IL] and evaluate the effects of residential characteristics in discerning exposures to OP. The median OP of residential PM [185.90 pmol/(min m3)] was comparable with the values reported for ambient PM2.5 in CUR. Both the particle mass concentrations (PMC) and OP consistently increased with decreasing floor area. The PMC and OP of residences using gas stoves were 72% and 42% higher than those using electric stoves, respectively. Similarly, scented candle usage also resulted in a 71% and 34% increase in the PMC and OP, respectively, signifying the importance of indoor-origin PM in determining residential exposure to OP. Collectively, these findings emphasize the need for further investigations to reliably estimate residential exposures to toxic PM, as a function of building characteristics and source usage patterns.

  PublisherDOI

• Contributions of tailpipe and non-tailpipe emissions to the oxidative potential of source-resolved PM10 from major LDV- and HDV-dominated freeways in Los Angeles

  Atmospheric Environment · 2025-11-20

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Mn-Doped CdO Nanocrystalline Particles: Structural and Electrical Properties Modulation

  Physics of the Solid State · 2025-10-01

  article

  Cadmium oxide (CdO) has been recognized as a promising diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) for its various applications in spintronics, high sensitivity gas sensors and electrochemical sensors, etc. The present work reports the synthesis, structural, magnetic and dielectric properties of pure CdO and Mn-doped CdO nanoparticles with Mn-content (x = 7%) which were synthesized using simple co-precipitation method. Structural analysis via X-ray diffraction patterns revealed a cubic crystal structure in all materials, with no discernible impurity phases. FESEM images indicated a reduction in the grain size of CdO after doping of Mn-content. Magnetic measurements revealed a superparamagnetic behavior in CdO with magnetization (0.05 emu/g) at 5 K temperature and this superparamagnetic ordering was notably augmented through Mn-doping with magnetization (0.5 emu/g). In M(T) curves, blocking temperature (Tb) showed the transition from ferromagnetic to super paramagnetic behavior, also confirmed the presence of superparamagnetic behavior at low temperature in these nanoparticles. The dielectric constant is 25 × 102 and electrical conductivity is 5 × 10–5 Ω–1 cm–1 of CdO. Both are found to increase (dielectric constant 22 × 103 and electrical conductivity 15 × 10–5 Ω–1 cm–1) after doping of Mn-content, may be due to increase in free charge carriers.

  PublisherDOI

• Impacts of the 2023 Canadian Wildfires on the Oxidative Potential of Particulate Matter

  ACS ES&T Air · 2025-09-09

  article

  Particulate matter (PM) from wildfire (WF) smoke is increasingly impacting air quality. However, knowledge about its adverse health effects is limited, particularly regarding its oxidative properties relative to other PM types. In 2023, Canada experienced its worst recorded WF season, with smoke strongly impacting air quality across North America. Here we collected ambient PM samples from two urban (Toronto and Champaign) and one rural (East Trout Lake) sites in North America in 2023 and assessed their oxidative potential (OP; mass-normalized) and burden (OB; volume-normalized) using the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay. Our results indicate that OP of urban WF PM was not greater than non-WF PM. At the rural site, WF PM showed slightly higher OP than background PM, which may be related to a lesser extent of atmospheric aging of WF PM, or low OP of background PM in rural areas. During WF-influenced periods in Toronto, mass fractions of OP-active metals were significantly lower, but there was no significant difference in OP, indicating the importance of nonmetallic components to OP. Across all sites, OB was greater during WF periods, driven by elevated PM concentrations. Our findings suggest that while the OP of WF PM is similar to urban PM, higher PM concentrations during WF episodes can increase exposure to potentially harmful DTT-active species.

  PublisherDOI

• Size-segregated chemical composition and oxidative potential of ambient quasi-ultrafine and accumulation mode particles in Los Angeles

  Journal of Aerosol Science · 2025-09-16

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER:A Comprehensive Assessment of the Reactive Oxygen Species Activity of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter and its association with the Chemical Composition

  NSF · $501k · 2019–2025

Frequent coauthors

• Constantinos Sioutas

  University of Southern California

  57 shared

• James J. Schauer

  42 shared

• Rodney J. Weber

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  35 shared

• Flemming R. Cassee

  National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

  34 shared

• Subhasis Biswas

  California Air Resources Board

  31 shared

• Joseph V. Puthussery

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  30 shared

• Arthur K. Cho

  27 shared

• Ting Fang

  University of Hong Kong

  24 shared

Labs

• Illinois Lab for Aerosol ResearchPI

Education

• Ph.D., Civil & Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  2000

• M.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  1996

• B.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  1994

Awards & honors

• NSF CAREER Award (2019)
• Honorable Mention for the James J. Morgan Early Career Award…
• UIUC Center for Advanced Study Fellow (2021-22)
• invited chair for special symposiums/sessions on Air Polluti…