Tissue engineering of lung organoids as in vitro disease models using advanced biomaterials

Respiratory diseases such as COPD, asthma and IPF affect 13 million people globally. COPD affects >3 million people in the UK and is the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. COPD occurs due to smoking and air pollution which cause chronic lung inflammation leading to remodelling of the small airways associated with re-expression of developmental genes. Tissue-engineered organoid models enable greater understanding of both fundamental biological processes in lung development and ageing and how they may be perturbed in disease. The creation of such organoid models depends critically on in vitro replication of the physical properties encountered in vivo, requiring the development of new bioengineered constructs that mimic both diseased and healthy tissue. The student will apply this concept to the lung, combining patient-derived diseased cells with advanced biomaterials to yield information about key developmental processes that are controlled through cell-cell signalling and which drive disease.