In contrast to many other organs, a significant portion of lung development and growth occurs postnatally during the first decade of life. The immaturity of the lung after birth heightens its susceptibility to insults that can disrupt this developmental program, but also offers immature lung a greater capacity for repair and regeneration after injury. The main focus of the Alvira lung is to define developmental pathways that direct postnatal lung growth with the long-term goal of leveraging this knowledge to create new therapies to preserve lung development and promote repair in the setting of injury. Our lab uses genetically modified mouse models, human lung tissue, and single cell transcriptomics to define what makes the immature lung unique from the adult lung at the molecular and cellular level with a key focus on transcriptionally-distinct populations of lung endothelial, immune and mesenchymal cells.
Department URL:
https://med.stanford.edu/pediatrics.html
Associate Professor
Stanford Departments and Centers:
Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine
T32 affiliation:
Stanford Training Program in Lung Biology
Research Interests: