A unique, womb-like environment designed by pediatric researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia could transform care for extremely premature babies.

Researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in collaboration with the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that venous endothelial cells (VECs), a specific type of lung blood vessel cell, can help fix damaged blood vessels in the lungs following lung injury or disease. Their findings were recently published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.