Faculty
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California, United States
I am a surgeon-scientist faculty member in the Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology, Division of RhinologyEndoscopic Sinus and Skull Base Surgery. I am interested in using basic science and translational approaches to better understand i) upper airway basal cells for stem cell therapy for cystic fibrosis; ii) upper airway epithelial maintenance and regeneration in both health and disease; iii) innate and acquired immune responses in the epithelial and lymphoid compartments of the upper airway in acute/chronic infection including SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. I ultimately hope to create rational cell-based and cell-free biologic and regenerative therapies for patients suffering from airway diseases. We have recently published on our ability to correct the defective full length CFTR gene in upper airway basal (stem) cells (UABCs) from cystic fibrosis patients using CRISPR/Cas9, and have received R-01 funding to optimize pre-clinical methodologies to transplant and engraft upper airway stem cells to airway tissues in animal models.
In addition to the above, my lab has had a key role in understanding maintenance and regeneration of ciliated cells from the nasal cavity, along with other epithelial cells, from both human and rodent systems, in primary cell culture like air liquid interface (ALI) cultures and in vivo models of upper airway injury/inflammation. With the advent of SARS-CoV-2, the need to understand nasal epithelial cell infection, ACE2/TMPRSS2 receptor interactions, virus trafficking in ciliated cells, and virus-mediated olfactory loss by this novel coronavirus has become essential for global health. My group has established collaborations with several experts in virology and cilia biology given our expertise in human nasal epithelial cell biology and mucosal immunity, which serves as the basis for our contributions to several funded COVID-based grant application. We are excited to continue advancing our work to improve our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 targets and mechanisms of establishing infection.