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Irene Heijink

 Talent Track Professor (Experimental Pulmonology) Profile
Talent Track Professor (Experimental Pulmonology)
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The main focus of my research is the damage, repair and immunological role of the respiratory mucosal barrier in health(y ageing) and chronic disease. My research is mainly performed using molecular approaches and advanced, patient-specific cellular models in a highly translational setting, including the recently set-up human lung organoid models and the development of an airway-on-chip model. The aim is to increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying abnormal lung epithelial repair and regeneration in diseases such as asthma and COPD, in order to gain more insight in novel therapeutic strategies to repair the damaged epithelium. My research is embedded within the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC) of which I have recently become program leader.
I. H. Heijink