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Hawkins Lab

Center for Regenerative Medicine

Boston University

About

The Hawkins Lab is interested in how the human lung is maintained and responds to injury. 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 and regenerative programs in the lungs.  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 publications:

2023: Airway regeneration via primary and iPSC derived basal cells in collaboration with the Kotton Lab: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37625411/

 

2022: iPSC platform for Cystic Fibrosis disease modeling: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31854-8

Check out or basal cell differentiation protocol here: https://star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/836

JOVE protocol for working with human iPSC-derived basal cells: https://www.jove.com/v/63882/generation-of-airway-epithelial-cell-airliquid-interface-cultures-from-human-pluripotent-stem-cells

 

Our 2021 Cell Stem Cell manuscript: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590920304926?via%3Dihub

Portfolio

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.  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.  Finn is the director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic at. Boston Medical Center. 

Andrew Berical, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine 

Andrew is a physician-scientist in the Hawkins lab. He recently applied iPS cells to model drug responsiveness for specific cystic fibrosis causing mutations (see Nature Communications manuscript above). He grew up in New York but is a New England transplant now. Away from the lab, he enjoys spending time with his family! Check out the culmination of Andrew's work in the 2022 Nature Communications manuscript (above). In 2022, Andrew received a Harry Schwachman Clinical Investigator Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  


 

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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.

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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

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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. 

Clients

News

Contact

Contact
For enquiries please contact Finn Hawkins at hawk@bu.edu. For lung differentiation protocols please visit:
http://www.bu.edu/dbin/stemcells/

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hawk@bu.edu

670 Albany St, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA,  02118

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