Hawkins Lab
Center for Regenerative Medicine
Boston University
The Hawkins Lab is interested in how the human lung develops, is maintained, and responds to injury to better understand human lung disease. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer a unique opportunity to model human lung disease and bridge the gap between research in animal models and humans. Using this iPSC platform we are focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that control cell fate decisions during development and in disease. We hope to apply this knowledge to advance our understanding of and develop precision medicine approaches for lung disease. The lab has a particular focus on the airway epithelium and disease of the airways.
Latest preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.21.448578v1v1
Latest publications:
Check out or basal cell differentiation protocol here: https://star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/836
Our 2021 Cell Stem Cell manuscript:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590920304926?via%3Dihub
Team
Finn Hawkins, PI
Finn is a PI in the Center or Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University and Boston University Medical Center. He is also a Pulmonary and Critical Care attending in the Pulmonary Dept. of Boston University with expertise in Interstitial Lung Disease. Originally from Ireland, Finn moved to the US in 2007 to complete internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN followed by fellowship in Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine at Boston University. During his fellowship he trained in Dr. Darrell Kotton's laboratory at a time when the derivation of lung lineages from iPSCs was in its infancy. This was the driving force that led Finn to pursue better models of human lung disease.
Mary Lou Beermann
Lab Manager
Mary Lou is the Hawkins Lab Manager. She is currently focused on deriving airway basal cells from human iPSCs. She also keeps the lab running smoothly. Outside the lab she loves spending time with family and friends.
Andrew Berical, MD
Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow
Andrew is a junior faculty member physician-scientist in the Hawkins lab. He is currently working to use iPS cells to model personalized drug responsiveness for specific cystic fibrosis causing mutations. He grew up in New York but is a New England transplant now. Away from the lab, he enjoys being a brand new father to his baby boy Jack! Check out Andrew's work in the pre-print format below.
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Jake Le Suer
Graduate student
Jake graduated Connecticut College in 2016 with a BA in biology and worked as a research assistant at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center prior to being accepted at BU. Outside of the lab Jake enjoys fishing, hiking, friends and family.
Taylor Matte
Graduate student
Taylor is a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Hawkins Lab. In his thesis work, Taylor seeks to develop a roadmap of lung specification and development by identifying the genetic programs controlling lung state and fate using the iPSC platform. He also seeks to compare this roadmap of normal development to a roadmap of aberrant development by probing the transcriptomic and phenotypic changes associated with mutations in key lung transcription factor, NKX2-1. Outside of the lab, Taylor enjoys trivia, physical activity, and an ice-cold margarita in the sun
DJ Wallmann, MD
Pulmonary Research Fellow
DJ is a research fellow in the Hawkins Lab. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time with new son Mack, wife Kelly and dog Indiana while sneaking in soccer games and gardening when time permits
Anat Kohn, MD PhD
Pulmonary Research Fellow
Anat is a research fellow in the Hawkins Lab. She completed her MD/PhD at the University of Rochester, where she studied the role of Notch signaling in chondrocyte development in the lab of Matthew Hilton. She then completed Internal Medicine residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center and stayed on faculty as a hospitalist. In 2020, Anat moved to Boston to pursue pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship. In her free time, Anat enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, playing ultimate frisbee, baking, and crocheting.
News
https://www.bmc.org/healthcity/research/chasing-cure-lung-disease-stem-cells
Latest publications:
Check out or basal cell differentiation protocol here: https://star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/836
Our 2021 Cell Stem Cell manuscript: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590920304926?via%3Dihub