She is interested in determining the critical components of the alveolar epithelial stem cell niche and the cellular crosstalk signals that dictate cell identity and behavior during steady state maintenance and repair after injury and infection. She believes this work is fundamental to better understanding the biology of the human lung and the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease that is characterized by relentless scar accumulation in the lung with only minimally effective therapy short of lung transplant.