Modeling Airway Epithelial Cell Differentiation and Injury in BPD

The Eldredge Lab's mission is to study novel mechanisms of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) pathogenesis.

BPD is a chronic (and likely life-long) lung disease that develops after premature birth. There are neither reliable predictors of individual pulmonary outcomes nor targeted therapeutics to alter BPD progression. BPD affects alveolar, vascular and airway respiratory compartments. Airway disease in BPD is associated with increased mortality, respiratory treatment needs and poor respiratory outcomes such as invasive mechanical ventilation.

There are three areas of research in the Eldredge Lab:

1. Development of airway disease in severe BPD (Seattle Children's clinical research, BPD Collaborative)
2. Hyperoxia-induced lung injury in vivo (basic mouse model)
3. Airway epithelial cell differentiation (mechanistic translational model)

Our longer-term goals are to understand which infants develop BPD-related airway disease, when airway epithelial injury occurs during BPD pathogenesis and what we can do to prevent and/or treat this BPD phenotype.