Stem Cell Biology and Ageing
We study how airway epithelial stem cells (basal cells) maintain and repair the respiratory epithelium during tissue homeostasis and ageing. Our work focuses on the molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell behaviour, including interactions with the extracellular matrix.
We aim to define how age-associated changes in epithelial stem cells contribute to impaired regeneration and chronic lung disease. Specifically, we are working on how hemidesmosomes and transcription factors such as p63 control airway stem cell identity, function and ageing.
We have also developed lentiviral tools to study airway epithelial differentiation and identified Wnt signalling as a key regulator of basal cell proliferation and fate.
