LEBAO recently welcomed a new colleague, Dr. Carola Voss. Her research focuses on advanced lung organoids, which are three-dimensional microtissue models derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) that replicate the properties of the lower airways in vitro. Dr. Voss uses these lung organoids to study the cellular mechanisms of air pollutant mixtures on the lower airways, especially under the changing conditions of climate change, and to develop test systems for toxicological in vitro research.

Additionally, she aims to use these models to investigate the development and molecular pathomechanisms of lung diseases such as COPD in the context of air pollutants and beyond. The disease-relevant signatures in the lung will also be correlated with genetic predisposition, biological sex, and epigenetic regulation. These patient-specific, hiPSC-derived lung organoids also serve as a translational platform for drug testing and toxicological evaluation. Dr. Voss’s research group aims to contribute to the greater significance and better establishment of organotypic in vitro systems, which are alternatives to animal testing based on the 3R principle (Replace, Reduce, Refine), in inhalation toxicology.

Before moving to Hannover, Dr. Voss established the lung organoid model in Dr. Tobias Stöger’s group at the Helmholtz Center in Munich and has already published successfully. Now she is transfering her expertise to HTTG/LEBAO. Her planned research projects, supported by her expertise, have been rated as outstanding by the DFG and she was therefore awarded the Emmy Noether Prize.

The Emmy Noether funding enables outstanding young scientists to qualify for a university professorship by independently leading a junior research group over a period of six years.

We welcome Dr. Carola Voss and look forward to collaborating with her and her research group!