Lauren Woodard Lab
The Woodard Lab engineers gene and cell therapies for kidney regeneration. We use design principles of engineering to guide our experiments as we develop new medicines for the most common illnesses in nephrology.
Kidney Regeneration
We design new strategies to treat acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease via regenerative medicine. We use mouse models and human 3D tissue culture systems, including human kidney organoids.
Starting with urine-derived stem cells and induced nephron progenitor cells, we study the functional improvement and engraftment properties of cells for kidney repair following acute kidney injury.
We are interested in exosomes and extracellular vesicles derived from renal cells for therapeutic applications.
Modeling Human Kidney Disease
We are developing human kidney organoids and other induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived protocols to model human kidney disease. We have published iPSC to podocyte models and human kidney organoids treated with cell-free hemoglobin to model sepsis.
We are currently developing high-throughput methods to model acute kidney injury. We utilize and iterate human models of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, nephrotoxicity, acute kidney injury, and genetic disease. We have expertise differentiating iPSC into many cell types, both renal and non-renal.
Contact Us
Please email Dr. Lauren Woodard for more information on collaborating, sharing materials, or study participation, or call the lab at 615-873-7078.