Mapping the Pediatric Inhalation Interface: Nose, Mouth, and Airways

From the first breath to the last, humans continually interact with the airborne environment via the respiratory system, including mucosal surfaces of the nasal and oral cavities, lower airways, and lung alveoli. 

Despite the importance of the respiratory system, a holistic understanding of the entire interface across pediatric development is lacking. This project will create an ancestrally diverse, open access, multi-omic atlas of the inhalation interface of the nose, mouth, and airways from birth through pre-adolescence, referenced to its secreted fluids. The team will leverage multi-disciplinary, global expertise to create diverse and inclusive atlases of healthy respiratory system tissues and fluids, including transcriptomes, proteomes, and epigenomes, spatially referenced and computationally integrated using artificial intelligence. This team hopes to meaningfully engage with local and global communities to improve shared understanding and build capacity for future disease-oriented research to address pediatric health needs.