As a newly named Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Assistant Professor Sara Prescott and her lab plan to test whether and how neurons have a role in airway remodeling, which goes awry in many diseases.
On the front lines of exposure to the rest of the world, the body’s airways are confronted by dangers ranging from air pollution to allergens to mis-swallowed coffee. To cope, they have defensive reflexes, such as coughing, and repair responses that marshal stem cells to remodel damaged tissue. But in many diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), the lungs’ remodeling responses go awry causing serious and even fatal impairments to breathing.
