The Kick-off meeting of the hDMT Kidney-on-Chip theme group, coordinated by Silvia Mihăilă (chair, Utrecht University) and Jitske Jansen (vice-chair, Erasmus MC), took place on March 16th 2023, at Utrecht University. This event saw the participation of over 40 hDMT members from across the Netherlands. The group discussed a wide range of topics from developmental biology and gene editing to organoids and organ-on-chip design, as well as in vitro to in vivo extrapolation applications. The theme group provided a platform for members to troubleshoot questions, share ideas, and connect with each other on a professional and personal level. The lively interaction between members fostered a sense of community and helped building bridges between different fields of kidney research. The event also sparked new ideas and potential interdisciplinary collaborations.
UU students following a bachelor course on in vitro models of disease for pharmacology also joined this meeting. In this course, they attended lectures on organoids and organs-on-chips and followed several practicals where they could build their own chips. Now, they had the chance to see how science is discussed and how theoretical concepts they learned during the course are applied. hDMT encourages the inclusion of the younger generation in the theme group discussions.
The next Kidney-on-Chip meeting will be hosted by Erasmus MC on September 28th, 2023.
