Faculty Spotlight: Focusing on Fibroblasts in the Lung with Jarod Zepp, PhD

Editor’s Note: Meet the diverse, dedicated, and distinctive faculty who are discovering and developing pediatric life-changing solutions at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, in our monthly Faculty Spotlight series. This year, we're learning about the ways our faculty unwind and relax after working hard to improve pediatric health and care. In this Q&A, we meet Jarod Zepp, PhD, a scientist in the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine. Stay tuned for more from our Faculty Spotlight series throughout the year.

Why did you choose to focus on your research specialty?

My lab is studying the cellular responses to injury, repair processes, and regeneration in the lung. We are looking at cells in the lung's stroma, called fibroblasts. Historically, fibroblasts have long been considered a “structural” support cell that produces and modifies extracellular matrix, adding rigidity and compliance to most tissues and organs. While this is true, our recent studies have uncovered remarkable fibroblast diversity. Do these distinct fibroblasts have unique functions? Can we develop new in vitro and in vivo models to test these functions? This is a new frontier, and these questions require answers.

Can you tell us about a current research project that you are excited about?

We’ve been interested in a peculiar fibroblast that only exists in a neonatal lung. While we’ve not fully worked out the exact timing of its existence in humans, it rapidly appears and disappears within the first two weeks of postnatal life in murine models. This fibroblast proliferates and expands in the distal lung, where it exerts contractile forces that help to create indentations, called secondary septa, that expand the surface area of the alveoli for more efficient gas exchange. Our studies show that the alveoli are poorly formed and immature without these cells or pathways critical to their function. We’ve generated a new animal model to target these cells, giving us better specificity for future studies.

What are the long-term research questions you hope to answer?

One fundamental question we hope to answer is how fibroblast identity is maintained. By identifying the levers that control fibroblast identity, we could potentially re-program unwanted fibroblast phenotypes, such as those that contribute to lung fibrosis, or promote good fibroblasts, such as those that promote alveolar maturation.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time when you’re not working on research?

I love playing with my 6-year-old daughter. She thinks I’m cool right now, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

How do you balance your research work with your personal interests?

It’s been helpful to use a planner, not a digital calendar, to keep track of experiments, grant deadlines, meetings, home projects, and vacations. It’s easy to flip through, and I find that events don’t sneak up on me. It also helps me see whether my schedule reflects a good balance of research and personal interests.