Protecting our lungs

Just by breathing, we expose our lungs to potentially harmful things. From our nostrils, to the deepest parts of our lungs, our airways have evolved clever ways to fight off these attacks and protect our health.

We use powerful and specialised microscopes to study all the different cells that line our airways and how they work normally, but also how they adapt or fail to protect us when we inhale pollutants, medicines or even viruses.

Design by Odara Medagedara

Mennella lab

Molecular mechanisms of airway defence

We are understanding how the airways respond, adapt and survive when confronted with different types of insults such as toxic particulates, drugs and infectious agents that target the airways.

Find out more about the lab

Share your tattoo!

Remember if you post a photo of your tattoo on Instagram, tag us @mrc_tu