Dr. El-Chemaly’s laboratory is interested in two areas of investigation: 1) The role of lymphatics and their growth factors especially VEGF-D in lung disease with an interest in acute lung allograft rejection. Using cell and molecular techniques as well as animal lung transplant models in an attempt to elucidate the important cytoprotective roles of induction of the lymphatic vasculature and its role in the health of the lung allograft. 2) Rare genetic lung diseases with a focus on lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) and Hermansky-Pudlak pulmonary fibrosis with the goal to identify in vitro and in pre-clinical models dysregulated pathways which could lead to novel therapeutic targets.