PulmoScience Lab
Leiden
Our Cell Culture
Techniques
OUR LAB
PulmoScience Lab Leiden
In the PulmoScience Lab we aim to advance our understanding of lung health and disease by developing clinically relevant, animal-free human lung models and research tools. By bringing together respiratory cell biology, immunology, and translational research, we aim to accelerate drug discovery and support the development of precision treatment strategies for pulmonary diseases.
Based within a clinical department at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), our research connects fundamental biological insights with clinical needs. We focus on the mechanisms that underlie lung injury, inflammation, tissue repair, and host defence, with the ultimate goal of translating scientific discoveries into meaningful benefits for patients.
Human lung epithelial cells, which line the airways and alveoli, are at the heart of our research. These cells play essential roles in maintaining lung function, coordinating immune responses, defending against infection, and repairing damaged tissue. By studying their behaviour in health and disease, we seek to better understand disease mechanisms and identify new opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
OUR HEAD
Anne M. van der Does, PhD
Anne van der Does is Associate Professor, and head of the PulmoScience Lab, the research lab of the Department of Pulmonology of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
Her research activities involve the development of advanced lung cell culture models and use of these models in research focused on repair & regeneration of lung tissue and respiratory host defense. She chairs the Mucosal Barrier Model theme group of the Dutch Organ-on-Chip consortium (hDMT), is actively involved in the European and Dutch Respiratory Society and chairs the International Antimicrobial Host Defence Peptide Network (iAMPNet).
Beyond research, she is involved in teaching (bio)medical students, supervising PhD-students and postdocs, and teaching activities outside the LUMC. She furthermore actively promotes animal-free research innovations through public engagements.
Dr. van der Does received her Ph.D. from the Department of Infectious Diseases at the LUMC before completing a 4-year postdoc at the Karolinska Institutet, in Stockholm, Sweden after which she continued her career in the PulmoScience Lab of the LUMC.
"I am passionate about contributing to science through the development of advanced cell culture models. By applying these innovative systems in my research on lung diseases, I aim to contribute to animal-free biomedical innovation."