Timothy Ting-Hsuan Wu

I want to understand how a human organ is built from genes and cells, regenerated by stem cells, and destroyed in disease. The convergence of mathematics, computer science, and molecular biology in single cell sequencing has made it possible to map life-enabling physiological processes onto single cells with unprecedented precision, and the lung is among the most complex human organs that can be resolved this way. I am culturing human lungs outside of the body, developing new tools to label and alter single cells, and following their behavior in their native complex three-dimensional environment through single cell sequencing and deep tissue imaging in order to study stem cell regeneration, disease initiation, and test new therapeutics. By developing this systematic molecular and cellular approach, I hope to discover new physiology and ways to treat diseases of the human lung.