Our new paper focuses on the conversation around novel cell-based therapies for COVID-19 patients. Within this paper we explore the efficacy and safety of these coronavirus treatments and discuss the importance of tightly-regulated “compassionate use” and adequate evidence regarding these cell-based approaches.

Our new paper in Nature Communications describes the genetic program of in vivo lung primordial progenitors and use of computational similarity analysis to improve lung directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. A great collaborative effort with the groups of Darrell Kotton, Pankaj Mehta, Eric Kolaczyk, Bob Varelas, Dave Frank, and Ed Morrisey.

Our comment on the co-opting of the federal database ClinicalTrials.gov by businesses offering unproven and unlicensed cell-based interventions is published in the August 2018 issue of Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Many thanks to our co-authors, Darcy Wagner, Leigh Turner, Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, and Dan Weiss.