Abstract

Optimal lung health from embryo through adulthood requires the complex interaction of pulmonary airspaces, interstitial and vasculature, beginning with organ development and culminating in programmed senescence. Technological advances have fostered a growing appreciation for the impact of cellular plasticity and the importance of cellular niche both during development and in response to both injury and repair. In addition to expanding the role of reactivation of developmental pathways lung repair, recent discoveries have demonstrated unique aging programs that will provide novel treatment strategies for chronic lung disease. The 5th Gordon Research Conference on Lung Development, Injury and Repair in August of 2019 seeks to attract cutting edge science to drive forward the field of lung development, injury, and repair toward the goal of facilitating novel therapeutic approaches to maximize lung health across the lifespan. This conference will strive to highlight new concepts behind the interactions of cells and matrices that define specialized niches within the lung, and how niches change across the lifespan to influence lung development, injury, and repair.