Understanding human physiology and disease requires model systems that faithfully capture homo and heterotypic cellular interactions. To study human cells in the laboratory, the most optimal system thus far has been the culture of primary cells in a 3-dimensional format, where cellular division and differentiation occurs with spontaneous organization into ultrastructure mimicking that of parent organs. This organotypic culture methodology has been well described for the gastrointestinal tract, but limited studies have been performed on the respiratory system. My research focus has been to optimize the differentiation of respiratory epithelium from induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) in addition to developing methods for genetic manipulation via genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9. Taken together, my objective will be to develop a human genetic model system for respiratory physiology and disease.