WEBVTT

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The endothelial cells line every
single vessel of the body

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from the large aorta
that pumps blood out of the heart

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to even the capillary cells that get one
tenth the size of a human hair,

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and so it's the endothelial cells
that are in contact with the blood

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that regulate the blood flow, the platelet
activation, the immune cell activation.

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There's at least 11 different types
of endothelial cells in the lung alone.

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The heart probably has six different
types of endothelial cells

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and what's important for me
is that all of these endothelial cells

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respond differently to infection or trauma.

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My lab focuses on blood vessel dysfunction
in critically ill children,

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and we're keen to really
understand how to diagnose

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the differences between
endothelial cell activation,

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which is generally a helpful process
to stop blood bleeding where a cut is,

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or to bring immune cells
to where an infection is,

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from endothelial cell dysfunction, which is bad,

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which allows too much bleeding or recruits
too many or not enough immune cells.

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We're especially focused on how the endothelial cells regulate the vascular barrier.

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When someone becomes critically ill,

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their hands and their face get all swollen.

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That swelling happens in their organs too,

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and that leads to the organs not working properly

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and so my lab exists to undetstand

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how this phenomenon called capillary leak,

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where blood volume leaks from
inside the blood vessel space

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to outside the blood vessel space, happens.

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It's very challenging because endothelial cells are on the inside of the blood vessels.

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So they're hard to study.

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But my lab starts with a
highly translational process.

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We get samples at the bedside
of critically ill children,

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whether it's blood, lung fluid

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or actually we found a way to collect
individual endothelial cells and analyze them

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and identify processes or targets that we can then study in cultured endothelial cells

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and collections of cells
that are known as organoids.

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From that analysis, has been very,
very illuminating and telling of what

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endothelial cells are doing in the blood
vessels of critically ill children

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Ultimately, we want to be able to
diagnose and treat capillary leak

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and capillary leak makes
every disease process worse,

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and so if we had tools
that could diagnose it,

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we could better triage the
organ support that we provide,

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whether it's a breathing machine

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or medicines to make the heart
beat faster and stronger,

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and ultimately we want to be able to treat it
to give a medicine or a therapy

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that reduces the amount of blood volume
leaking out into the tissues.

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I was motivated to conduct research based
on my experiences at the bedside,

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and would have children come
in that were critically ill,

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and we would see them get swollen

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and we would see their organs fail,

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and we had no tools to diagnose it,
no new treatments.

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So I became inspired to research capillary leak

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from my clinical experiences
of critically ill children.

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That translational approach
still motivates us today.