Professor, Texas Lung Injury Institute, Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler

Research Interests: Acute lung injury, ARDS, fibrinolysis, stem cell niche, regeneration, epithelial barrier, ion transport, COPD, therapeutic, lung injury repair.

My team focuses on the stem cell niches and extracellular matrix requested by pulmonary epithelial progenitor cells to re-epithelialize injured airway and lungs. These niche components include miRNAs, exosomes, and transfer of mitochondria and nucleotides via intercellular tunneling nanotubes. Our studies are supported by R01 grants. Meanwhile, we carry out clinical studies to identify therapeutic natural compounds and novel liquid biomarkers for ARDS and COPD combining human samples and animal models.

website: https://www.uthct.edu/biotech-faculty