Cardiology Research Groups
Stone Group
Research Aims & Objectives
Vascular development and regeneration
We are studying how the vascular system forms during embryonic development.
Details of research interests
The cardiovascular and lymphatic systems play a vital role in keeping our bodies functioning by delivering nutrients and removing waste from every cell. These processes enable our hearts to beat, our brains to process information, and our muscles to move. At the heart of these systems are endothelial cells—specialised cells that form the innermost layer of blood and lymphatic vessels. These cells are essential for tissue development, maintenance and repair.
Our research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that drive the formation and diversity of endothelial cells. During development, naïve progenitor cells arise from an embryonic tissue called the mesoderm and differentiate to form the endothelial layer of arterial, venous, lymphatic, and organ-specific vessels. These specialised cells acquire unique traits to meet the needs of the tissues they support.
We have discovered that endothelial cells originating from different parts of the mesoderm tend to form specific types of blood and lymphatic vessels (Stone and Stainier, Developmental Cell, 2019). We also identified a specialised progenitor for lymphatic endothelial cells (Lupu, Grainger, Kirschnick et al., Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2025). Our ongoing work aims to uncover what makes endothelial cells from different lineages unique and to understand how these differences influence organ development and function.
Group Leader
Group Members
Postdoctoral Researcher:
- Dr David Grainger
Senior Research Associate:
- Jonathan Godwin
DPhil Students:
- Erica Zhao
- Sarah Sigal
Collaborators
Collaborators
- Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
- Sarah De Val
- Paul Riley
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Royal Society