Dr. Sara Clohisey Hendry

I’m a Research Fellow and Core Scientist in the Baillie lab.

You can read more about our work here.

I run a range of activities and am forging an independent research programme using genomics and genome editing to understand the mechanisms underlying Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), a devastating lung problem in preterm infants.

Late gestation is a critical window for lung maturation, yet the transcriptional programs guiding this phase are poorly defined. Preterm birth interrupts these processes, resulting in immature lungs highly susceptible to injury. Existing rodent and in vitro models fail to replicate this crucial developmental stage, limiting both mechanistic insights and therapeutic discovery. As a Co-Investigator on the GenOMICC study and Lead Researcher for the neonatal arm, I’m interested in how changes to DNA can influence how sick a baby might become following preterm birth and ventilation.

Using my skills and experience, I want to take a multidisciplinary approach that combines:

Genetics: Identify risk variants for BPD through large-scale human studies using the GenOMICC platform.

Transcriptomics: Map late gestation lung development at single-cell resolution using spatial and single-cell transcriptomics in the pig.

Phenotyping: Develop and characterise a porcine model of BPD incorporating clinical risk factors such as mechanical ventilation and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

I will link genetic variation to gene expression and phenotypic outcomes in a physiologically relevant system. The pig offers a unique opportunity to model both the timing and complexity of human lung development, enabling more direct translation of genomic findings into therapeutic targets.

You can hear me talk about this project.