Douglas G. Brownfield, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the Mayo Clinic specializing in lung development, repair and regeneration. His multidisciplinary team uses cutting-edge techniques—such as single-cell transcriptomics, genetically engineered mouse models and 3-D organotypic culture—to map the lung’s cellular and molecular landscape over time, identify key regulatory signals for alveolar construction, and translate these insights into potential therapies for pulmonary disease.