Sandra L. Leibel

Sandra Lawrynowicz Leibel is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, UCSD School of Medicine in San Diego, California. She graduated Medical School at the top of her class at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, completed Pediatric Residency at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah and Neonatal Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. She was recruited to the Physician Scientist program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and completed a Master degree in Lung Biology at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Leibel's interest in lung biology and surfactant metabolism began in the lab of Drs. F.S. Cole and Aaron Hamvas at Washington University where she studied the regulation of surfactant proteins B and C transcription and reprogrammed patient fibroblasts with a lethal surfactant protein B mutation into induced pluripotent stem cells. She continued her work with iPSCs in the lab of Martin Post at Sick Kids and developed her novel lung organoid differentiation protocol and used lentiviral gene therapy to express SP-B in the mutant line.

Dr. Leibel received CIRM funding to study iPSC derived lung organoids from different backgrounds to study infections, surfactant metabolism and to develop complex co-culture systems by investing the lung organoids with iPSC derived endothelial cells and macrophages.