Lung Disease

Our vision is to use human stem cells to develop new treatments for acute and chronic respiratory diseases.

Our lungs are essential for bringing oxygen into our bodies. However, with every breath, our lungs are exposed to pollutants and germs in the environment, which can lead to respiratory illnesses.

Children are especially vulnerable to many respiratory infections, and there are no vaccines to protect against some of these illnesses. Additionally, some children are born with lung conditions, like cystic fibrosis, which makes fighting infections even harder.

Our research

In our lab, we use human-induced pluripotent stem cells to create models of the human lung. We study how different lung cells interact, including epithelial cells that line the airways, immune cells that protect the lungs, and structural support cells; both in healthy lungs and during infections.

We can also create stem cell models from donors with conditions such as cystic fibrosis, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and childhood interstitial lung disease to better understand how chronic lung diseases start and progress.

Our goal

By using these stem cell-derived lung models, we aim to identify and test new treatments for respiratory diseases.

What we see under the microscope

This image below shows airway epithelial cells differentiated from pluripotent stem cells carrying a genetic mutation that causes Cystic Fibrosis. The airway epithelium forms a protective barrier through tight junctions (white) and consists of specialised cell types, including ciliated cells (red) and secretory cells (green), which help defend against inhaled respiratory pathogens.

Lung Disease Group Cystic Fibrosis 800x800