▁ 1 9 9 0 s ▁he ▁developed ▁the ▁human ▁tra che al ▁x en og raft ▁models ▁that ▁allowed ▁study ▁of ▁human ized ▁air ways ▁on ▁den ud ed ▁rat ▁tra che al ▁sc aff olds . ▁However , ▁he ▁soon ▁found ▁that ▁there ▁were ▁major ▁limitation ▁of ▁mouse ▁models ▁to ▁study ▁CF . ▁He ▁later ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁fer rets ▁represent ▁a ▁much ▁better ▁model ▁for ▁lung ▁disease ▁and ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁his ▁labor atory ▁became ▁the ▁first ▁in ▁the ▁world ▁to ▁clone ▁fer rets . ▁Dr . ▁Engel hardt ' s ▁research ▁has ▁been ▁ge ared ▁towards ▁finding ▁gene ▁ther ap ies ▁for ▁c yst ic ▁fib ros is . ▁Specifically , ▁he ▁focus es ▁on : ▁▁ ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁lung ▁mole cular and ▁cell ular ▁bi ology ▁as ▁it ▁rel ates ▁to ▁the ▁path ogen esis ▁and ▁treatment ▁of ▁c yst ic ▁fib ros is ▁( CF ) ▁lung ▁disease ▁and ▁associated ▁di ab etes ▁ ▁mole cular ▁mechan isms ▁underlying ▁re do x - medi ated ▁signal ▁trans du ction ▁in ▁environmental ▁inj uries ▁of ▁the ▁li ver ▁and ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁mole cular ▁ther ap ies ▁for ▁is chem ia / re per f usion ▁injury , ▁se ps is , ▁and ▁the ▁ne uro de gener ative ▁disease ▁am y ot roph ic ▁later al ▁s cl eros is ▁( AL S ) ▁ ▁the ▁bi ology ▁of ▁ad eno - associ ated ▁virus ▁in fection ▁and ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁this ▁vector