Fetal therapy for congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a global partnership to translate surgical and cellular innovation

At the Ritchie Centre, we have pioneered human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs), that can prevent lung injury and our research partners in Belgium have recently shown when sildenafil is administered to the mother during pregnancy may also prevent abnormal fetal lung development in CDH. We have developed a large animal model whereby we can test these novel therapies, the first of its kind in the world.