Investing in the Future of Lung Research

Rhett Guo was the successful recipient of this year’s Breathing Matters and British Association of Lung Research (BALR) Summer Studentship. In this article, he shares an overview of his research project and his experience of the studentship.

 

Understanding how lung cells repair themselves

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which lung tissue becomes scarred, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. One question researchers are trying to understand is why the lungs sometimes struggle to repair themselves after injury.

During my summer studentship at UCL Respiratory, supervised by Dr Manuela Platé, I investigated how lung cells change during this repair process. My project focused on cells that enter a temporary transitional state following injury. These cells, known as damage-associated transitional progenitors (DATPs), may contribute to fibrosis if they remain in this state for too long. The wider research aims to understand whether a cellular signalling pathway called mTOR plays a role in this process.

I worked with human lung organoids, which are small, three-dimensional structures grown from human cells. By growing them under different conditions, I investigated how their characteristics changed, using a technique called quantitative PCR to measure the activity of genes associated with different lung cell types.

Although the results were not conclusive, the experiments helped identify areas for further improvement. Working through these challenges also taught me a lot about how research works in practice, particularly the importance of troubleshooting and interpreting results carefully.

I am very grateful to Breathing Matters and BALR for making this studentship possible, and to my supervisors and colleagues at UCL Respiratory for their guidance and support throughout the project. The experience has given me valuable insight into the realities of research.  I have learnt a great deal and really appreciate the opportunity to share my experience with Breathing Matters’ supporters.

 

Breathing Matters is delighted to have supported Rhett through this studentship and are grateful to him for sharing his experience with us. By supporting opportunities like this, Breathing Matters helps encourage the next generation of researchers working to improve our understanding of lung fibrosis.