Maike Hänsel

Maike Hänsel – PhD Student

My PhD project focuses on linking airway inflammatory responses with vascular remodelling in pulmonary arterial hypertension using microfluidic organ-on-a-chip devices. 

I graduated in 2016 with a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Frankfurt in Germany. I have since graduated with a MSc in Molecular Medicine at Imperial and worked for three years at a pharmaceutical company on the development of antibody purification. 

I subsequently started my PhD at Imperial College in October 2020, funded by the British Heart Foundation. Here, I aim to combine 3D models of lung alveoli and pre-capillary vessels in a novel organ-on-a-chip device. This may allow monitoring of vascular remodelling triggered by factors implicated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.