The Lama Lab | Emory School of Medicine

The Lama Lab is a translational medicine research laboratory that combines clinical and basic science research to study and characterize phenotypes of Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and the cells and signaling pathways responsible for rejection and fibrogenesis.

Our team of researchers works every day to harness the power of translational research to furnish new understanding and promising solutions to combat allograft dysfunction, rejection, and fibrosis.

Our work includes developing robust animal models of rejection, studying mesenchymal stem cell signaling, and the transcriptional and translational regulation of their fibrotic function. These are just a few of the many avenues with which our team has chosen to fight against CLAD and towards a future where everyone can breathe a bit easier.

Our Inspiration

Here at the Lama Lab, we believe every person deserves to be able to breathe easily. For patients who experience chronic respiratory failure from end-stage lung diseases, however, lung transplantation remains one of the only viable solutions available to patients. But with a 10-year survival rate of just 20%, the field of lung transplantation and the anti-rejection treatments that follow have a ways to go before they can work for everyone.

Since 2003, our lab has worked ceaselessly to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of rejection, to identify potential therapeutic targets and intervention points, and to play a role in developing new techniques and treatment options to patients all around the world.

It is our lab's ultimate mission to make lung transplantation a viable, safe, and effective option for any patient who may need it. For further information regarding our techniques, team, and ways to donate and get involved, please see our other pages--or reach out to us by email.

Our Work

Our translational research program investigates regenerative and fibrotic responses in the lung utilizing a unique translational approach, merging mechanistic investigations in human samples and murine models with cutting-edge technologies. Our portfolio of research seamlessly transcends bedside to bench and vice versa.

In the clinical arena, our primary focus has been improving lung allograft monitoring. Here, along with defining novel physiological parameters (spirometric decline patterns) and biological progenitor cell based biomarkers (mesenchymal colony forming units in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid), we have introduced novel radiographic imaging methodologies (parametric response mapping on HRCT) to monitor this population. We are now moving our biological biomarker discovery into the next phase by developing a marker panel of immune and fibroproliferation in such lavage fluid. A multicenter study investigating the application of our computed tomography voxel-wise methodology a novel imaging tool for lung transplant recipients is already underway.

The translational component of this program led to the discovery of a human lung resident mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) population and has been paradigm-shifting for the field by challenging the then-existing dogma that MSCs in the bone-marrow serve as a reservoir for adult solid organs. Since then, a large body of work from my laboratory has helped investigate the origin of these cells and define their role in adult human lung repair and fibrosis as biomarkers and biomodulators. Most importantly, signaling studies on these cells derived from diseased and non-diseased lungs had let us to discover novel transcriptional (NFAT/LPA/β-catenin) and translational (mTOR/eIF4E-S209) mechanistic pathways regulating fibrotic transformation. Our recent work has utilized mesenchymal transcription factor Foxf1 transgenic mice and single-cell RNA seq technology to further characterize the resident mesenchymal cell populations in the lung.

Another significant contribution of our work has been in animal models of lung transplantation. We were able to merge the in vitro mechanistic cellular studies with in vivo investigations by developing novel mouse orthotopic single lung transplant model of chronic rejection. We provided the scientific community with the first robust model of bronchiolitis obliterans post-lung transplantation by utilizing an F1 into a parent mouse. We have subsequently also developed a novel murine model for a more aggressive phenotype of chronic rejection after lung transplantation termed restrictive allograft syndrome (RAS). This recently published work demonstrated that skewing of immune responses determines the diverse allograft remodeling patterns and highlighted the need to develop targeted therapies for specific CLAD phenotypes.

In summary, our work transcends the fields of and allows collaborative work within arenas of immunology, developmental biology, regenerative medicine, and stem cells. In the planned next phase, we aim to merge our multi-faceted clinical phenotyping and our basic mechanistic pathway studies for discovering novel biomarkers of disease endotypes and patient-specific therapeutic targets.

Our Team

Vibha N. Lama, MD, MS

Vibha N. Lama, MD, MS

Principle Investigator

Vibha Lama, MD, MS, is the Department of Medicine’s Vice Chair of Research, the Augustus J. McKelvey Chair in Lung Transplantation Medicine, and the Director of a new Comprehensive Lung Disease Program within the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.

For more information about Dr. Lama and her work, visit the Emory Daily Pulse or Dr. Lama's Emory profile page.

Ragini Vittal, PhD

Ragini Vittal, PhD

Senior Academic Research Scientist

Ragini's work has focused on the mechanisms underlying immune-mediated pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis and chronic rejection following lung-transplantation, including complement activation.

Patrick McLinden, BS

Patrick McLinden, BS

Lab Manager & Senior Lab Specialist

Patrick received his B.S. at the University of Michigan in Microbiology, and started working for the Lama Lab in 2020. He currently plans to work for the Lama Lab until applying to medical school. His research interests include alloantigen-specific B cell maturation and the role of the innate immunity in the context of the chronically rejected lung.

Stephen Russell, MD

Stephen Russell, MD

Dr. Stephen Russell joined the Lama Lab as a third-year fellow in Emory’s Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship. Steve graduated from Emory’s School of Medicine before completing his residency at Boston University. Steve’s primary research interests include leveraging big data and novel methodology to predict, sub-phenotype, and monitor CLAD in patients who have received lung transplants. Outside of work, Steve enjoys spending time with his wife and kids and exploring Atlanta by bike.

Kazuki Tadokoro, MD

Kazuki Tadokoro, MD

Surgical Fellow

Dr. Tadokoro is the Lama Lab’s current Surgical Fellow and comes to us from the Hiroshima University School of Medicine in Japan. Dr. Tadokoro is responsible for performing the different lung transplant and lung injury models employed in our lab. Trained as a thoracic surgeon specializing in lung cancer lobectomies and thymomas, the Lama Lab is excited to have his expertise on our team. Growing up, Dr. Tadokoro was a competitive water polo player, and now he and his wife enjoy camping, listening to music, playing video games, and exploring Atlanta, GA.

Weirong Chen, PhD, DVM, MS

Weirong Chen, PhD, DVM, MS

Dr. Chen started her career at Yangzhou University in China, where she obtained her DVM before transitioning to research, finishing her time there by completing her MS in Animal Infectious Disease. She then completed her PhD at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Chen joined the Lama Lab after working in rheumatology at Emory. Her research interests include plasma cell biology and the intersection of immunology and lung transplantation. When she’s not in the lab, Dr. Chen enjoys spending time with her two daughters and husband, playing tennis, and running.

Lu Lu, MS

Lu Lu, MS

Lu Lu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan, jointly advised by Dr. Vibha Lama and Dr. Joshua Welch. She completed her masters in Bioinformatics before pursuing her PhD at Michigan. Her current research focuses on developing computational methods for high-throughput sequencing technologies. When her head isn’t buried in books and lines of code, Lu Lu helps the Lama Lab investigate the development and pathogenesis of CLAD.

Our Collaborations

University of Michigan

Joshua Welch, PhD
The Welch Lab

Georgia Tech

Emory University

Stephen Russell, MD

Our Most Recent Publications

Results from randomized trial of pirfenidone in patients with chronic rejection (STOP-CLAD study).Volume: 43 Page(s): 1468 - 147709/01/2024 Authors: Combs MP; Belloli EA; Gargurevich N; Flaherty KR; Murray S; Galbn CJ; Vibha N Lama⁴

MNK-driven eIF4E phosphorylation regulates the fibrogenic transformation of mesenchymal cells and chronic lung allograft dysfunction.J Clin Invest Volume: 13408/15/2024 Authors: Walker NM; Ibuki Y; McLinden AP; Misumi K; Mitchell DC; Kleer GG; Lock AM; Vittal R; Sonenberg N; Garner AL; Vibha N Lama^1 2

Genetic deficiency of the transcription factor NFAT1 confers protection against fibrogenic responses independent of immune influx.Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol Volume: 326 Page(s): L39 - L5101/01/2024 Authors: Vittal R; Walker NM; McLinden AP; Braeuer RR; Ke F; Fattahi F; Combs MP; Misumi K; Aoki Y; Wheeler DS. Carol A Wilke³, Steven K Huang², Bethany B Moore³, Pengxiu Cao², Vibha N Lama¹

To view all publications from the Lama lab, please click HERE.

Contact Us

Woodruff Memorial Research Building | 101 Woodruff Cir. Atlanta, GA 30322
Emory Transplant Center | 1365 Clifton Rd NE Building B, Atlanta, GA 30322
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Emory University School of Medicine 100 Woodruff Circle Atlanta, GA 30322