We are excited to share a peek at progress from a promising Foundation funded study led by Dr. Roya Babaei Jadidi at the University of Nottingham. Her current research, Targeting IL-6 Signaling to Restore Alveolar Regeneration in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, is exploring how LAM may interfere with the lung’s ability to repair itself.

Dr. Babaei Jadidi successfully grown early-stage lung stem cell clusters, called AT2 organoids, using a specialized laboratory technique developed with the University of Cambridge. The 3D tissue mini models are being multiplied to ensure enough material for upcoming experiments and genetic testing.  Simultaneously, Dr. Babaei Jadidi is setting up the environment needed to recreate how this tissue behaves in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) by simulating the disease environment

Once enough organoids have been harvested, they will be exposed to disease signals and monitored for aging and transition. Every seven days, Dr. Bbabei Jadidi will carefully and meticulously monitor the samples.

The preliminary work related to this grant, including the optimization of AT2 organoid proliferation and differentiation conditions in monoculture and in co-culture with LAM cells and LAM-associated fibroblasts, was presented at the British Association for Lung Research (BALR) 2026 meeting.

The data yielded by this donor funded study will be available and impactful to those studying LAM and beyond. The potential for advancements in other cystic lung diseases is great. Your gifts are inspiring work that could lead to treatments to repair the lung damage caused by LAM. This is the life-improving and life-saving research that is accomplished when a community comes together.

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