Ya-Wen Chen, Ph.D.

The human lungs have different types of stem cells that each have their own areas they are responsible for repairing inside the lung when it is injured. Most of the research on lung stem cells uses mouse lungs. It is very difficult to determine if the stem cells found in mice also exist in humans. We recently developed a human model that can be used to make this determination. We started from cells called pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), which are cells that theoretically can give rise to all cells in the body. We will be using this human model to figure out if these human stem cells can behave like the mouse ones and manipulate them to promote lung repair. Our hope is that in the future when a human has a lung injury, doctors can regulate these cells to promote normal lung repair.

Supported by the Mary Fuller Russell Fund