SUMMARY
Stijn P. De Langhe, Ph.D., is interested in lung regeneration. Research in his lab is focused on lung stem cell niche interactions in pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), asthma and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Focus areas
The goal of Dr. De Langhe's research is to define the molecular mechanisms underlying lung development and to determine how these mechanisms can be harnessed to improve repair and regeneration in the lung. His team seeks to clarify the mechanistic basis of bidirectional signaling between lung stem cells and their niche, which informs lung stem cell fate decisions, including choices between quiescence or proliferation, self-renewal or differentiation, migration or retention, and cell death or survival.
Dr. De Langhe expects his inquiries into the molecular mechanisms underlying adult lung epithelial regeneration to serve as a framework that will assist his lab to understand how aberrant activation of normal developmental processes results in human lung diseases. He and his colleagues are primarily interested in transferring their knowledge about lung development to repair and disease processes in the adult lung. All their data is indicating that adult lung cells hijack the pathways important for lung development to respond to injury.
Significance to patient care
Dr. De Langhe's research into the molecular mechanisms underlying adult lung epithelial regeneration is indicating how aberrant activation of normal developmental processes results in human lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), COPD and ARDS.
Professional highlights
- Chair, 2nd Epithelial Mesenchymal Interactions in Lung Development and Fibrosis Conference, Fusion Conferences, 2022
- Chair, Epithelial Mesenchymal Interactions in Lung Development and Fibrosis Conference Fusion Conferences, 2019