Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the chronic lung disease that occurs after premature birth, and is associated with high mortality and late morbidity. BPD is a significant public health problem, occurring in 10,000 babies per year, yet approaches for its prevention and treatment are poorly understood. Based on past research in our lab, impaired vascular growth (angiogenesis) due to prenatal or postnatal injury decreases lung development and leads to sustained abnormalities of lung structure and function. We hypothesize that preservation or restoration of lung vascular growth during this critical period of development will improve the cardiac and respiratory outcomes of infants with BPD. To address this overall hypothesis, we have developed several study approaches that utilize diverse methodologies, including mouse and rat models of intrauterine stress; harvesting and characterization of endothelial progenitor cells from umbilical cord blood of human preterm infants; studies of primary cultures of pulmonary artery endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and airway epithelial cells from fetal sheep; co-culture models of cell-cell interactions; fetal lung explant studies; and others. Students would be work on a specific project within the context of the overall themes of the group, and will have numerous opportunities to interact with diverse investigators and staff.