Lauren Woodard Lab

We engineer gene and cell therapies for kidney disease. We use design principles of engineering to guide our experiments as we develop new medicines for the most common illnesses in nephrology.

1. 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 kidney organoids. We focus on improving organ regeneration through transcription factor reprogramming and renal stem cells. We are studying the functional improvement and engraftment properties of urine-derived stem cells for kidney repair following acute kidney injury.
2. Genome engineering. We investigate improvements to transposon systems and non-viral transfection techniques to further expand the available gene and cell therapy toolkit. Past and ongoing studies of transposase self-regulation continue to provide insights into how transposons function. Our expertise in recombinases, CRISPR/Cas systems, and transfection of cells and tissues allow exploration of regenerative gene therapies. 

Opportunities

Opportunities for training and employment are constantly changing with the flow of funding and space. Postdoctoral fellows, (potential) graduate students, research technicians, and undergraduates are all encouraged to contact Dr. Woodard with an expression of interest as early as possible.

Please send Dr. Woodard an email explaining your specific interests in the Woodard laboratory with your CV attached to lauren.woodard at vumc.org. Volunteer positions are not available.