We are delighted to be able to inform you of the first MTWC for Fibrosing Lung Disease lecture series seminar talk for 2024 which will be held on Monday 30th January 2024.
The talk will be given by Dr Jennifer Dickens, University of Cambridge
Talk details as follows:-
Talk Title: Exploring the link between surfactant protein C mistrafficking and familial interstitial lung disease using novel alveolar organoid models
Date: Monday 30th January 2024
Talk Time: 16:00 – 17:00 UK time
Location: Hybrid: Paul Wood Lecture Theatre, Guy Scadding Building, Ground Floor, Brompton Campus, Cale Street SW3 6LY & Online
Please note Registration is required to this event whether attending in person or online. For those attending in person there will also be a reception following the talk until 6pm.
Once registered you will receive a teams link to the meeting which can be used to attend online or as a reminder to keep in your diaries should you be attending in person.
The recording of the talk will not be made available on the MTWC Seminar Series talk pages following, please do ensure no recordings/photos are made on your personal equipment.
Bio:
Dr. Jenny Dickens is an MRC Clinician Scientist at the University of Cambridge and honorary consultant at Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth Hospitals. She has a research and clinical interest in interstitial lung disease with particular focus on familial pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Dickens trained in Cambridge and was inspired by her academic physician colleagues to undertake a PhD during her specialist respiratory training. During her MRC Research Training Fellowship her work on how expression of Z alpha-1-antitrypsin causes cellular dysfunction sparked her wider interest in how pathogenic protein variants cause disease. Her postdoctoral research has focussed on developing novel alveolar organoid models to understand how surfactant protein variants are handled by lung epithelium and how their expression may trigger interstitial lung disease. She has developed the familial pulmonary fibrosis service at Royal Papworth hospital to offer specialist care to this cohort and to complement her ongoing work. Outside of work, she is mum to 2 young children, is an avid baker and enthusiastic adult cello student.
Talk Summary
Understanding what triggers pulmonary fibrosis can be difficult because most patients already have established disease when diagnosed. It is however vital that we gain a better understanding to develop new treatments that target the very early stages of disease. In a proportion of patients, their pulmonary fibrosis is inherited giving us a defined cause to study. My research concentrates on understanding how variations of one disease-causing gene, surfactant protein C (SFTPC), affect the health of the lung. In this talk I will describe how we have come to understand the biology of SFTPC in health and disease by developing new lung cell models and manipulating them to look at how disease-causing SFTPC variants affect their behaviour.
During the seminar, it will be important to:
1. Mute your microphone
2. Turn off the camera
Questions will be taken from those attending in person but if you would like to send a question through before the event please do send to admin.mtwc@imperial.ac.uk
Supported by
