Category Archives: News

€ 4.8 million grant for revolutionary modular and standardized SMART OoC platform

NWO has awarded the prestigious Perspectief grant to a multidisciplinary team of 10 researchers affiliated with hDMT. The € 4.8 million grant makes it possible to take the next much needed step in Organ-on-Chip (OoC) technology: a standardized docking plate with microfluidics and electronics where technical and tissue chips are clicked in as needed – together: the SMART OoC. Uniquely, the tissues also contain their microenvironment, enabling modeling of fibrosis. Fibrosis is a common, disruptive disease that is a complicating factor in many organ diseases. Schematic representation of the SMART OoC, with one tissue chip of skin and hair and...

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Recording of the Workshop on Microphysiological Systems: Bridging Human and Animal Research is now available for viewing.

The recording of the Workshop on Microphysiological Systems (MPS): Bridging Human and Animal Research that was held on January 19-20, 2021 is now available for viewing. You can watch the recording here.

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Organ-on-Chip and the 3R Virtual Lab Tour EUROoC ITN

15 PhD students give you a virtual lab tour in 11 laboratories involved in the International Training Network, where they are working on finding alternatives to reduce animal testing. You are guided through the processes of building and setting-up an Organ-on-Chip experiment for in vitro modeling and drug screening. 4 PhD students, including Merve Bulut from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), will highlight their chips and applications.             Merve Bulut (LUMC) Microvasculature-on-Chip, ESR10 Ulgu Arslan (LUMC) and Tarek Gensheimer (UTwente) are also among the researchers of this inspiring network.. For the video and more information...

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Sofia Gomez starts on further development of Heart-on-Chip platform

PhD student Sofia Gomez joined the group of hDMT PI Dr Ye Wang and Prof Jaap den Toonder at Eindhoven University of Technology in January 2021, to work on the project named: Pneumatically actuated Heart-on-Chip platform with precise strain and frequency control for cardiac fibrosis modelling and beyond. In this project, she aims to develop a multi-well platform that is capable of applying highly controlled multimodal actuations to cell and tissue cultures, as well as automatic monitoring of their mechanical responses, such as generated pressure and flow, as direct readouts. Special emphasis is made on ease-of-use, modularity and robustness for accommodating...

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Tedesco Group winner of #OOCtransition Initiative of Bi/ond

Last November, Bi/ond, the Organ-on-Chip startup based in Delft, launched the #OOCtransition initiative to promote and accelerate the development of Organ-on-Chip models with the potential to reduce and replace animal testing. Researchers from all over Europe submitted their abstracts. After a careful selection, the Bi/ond team selected the Tedesco Laboratory at University College London & The Francis Crick Institute (London, UK) as the winner of the competition. Francesco Saverio Tedesco and his group (www.tedescolab.org) are focusing on skeletal muscle regeneration to develop novel experimental therapies for incurable diseases, such as muscular dystrophies. Due to the lack of biopsy cells and...

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1 million euros for corona research and metabolomics

Can we predict beforehand which of the Covid-19 patients will develop critical symptoms? hDMT PI Professor Thomas Hankemeier, together with a diverse consortium of universities, academic hospitals and industrial partners, is looking for answers. The consortium has received a grant of 1 million euros from Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland). Already in March, Thomas Hankemeier, professor Analytical biosciences at Leiden University and leader of the consortium set his focus on Covid-19 research. He uses his expertise in metabolomics, the field that studies the unique chemical fingerprints that specific metabolomic processes leave in our bodies. Think of amino acids,...

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FDA Report on Advancing Alternative Methods

The FDA’s Alternative Methods Working Group recently published the report Advancing Newe Alternative Methods at FDA. In the report you can read about the activities FDA scientists are undertaking to spur the development of new regulatory approaches that can help improve predictivity – and potentially – replace, reduce or refine animal testing. Dr. Susanne Fitzpatrick, senior advisor for toxicology at FDA about the report: ‘The report entitled Advancing Alternative Methods at FDA was developed by the FDA Alternative Methods Working Group to highlight the significant progress FDA scientists have made in our product centers and offices in laying the groundwork...

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NWA-ORC grant for Virtual Human Platform for Safety Assessment

In the second round of the Dutch Research Agenda Program: Research along routes by Consortia (NWA-ORC) the project Virtual Human Platform for Safety Assessment receives a grant of 9.9 million euros for assessing the safety of chemicals and pharmaceuticals without using laboratory animals. hDMT is closely involved in the project, as are hDMT partners: WUR, Amsterdam UMC, TNO and Leiden University. Imagine a world in which we can accurately test the safety of chemicals and pharmaceuticals for our health without the use of laboratory animals. Imagine that we know how these substances interact with human biology and physiology and how...

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NWA-ORC grant for Organ-on-Chip models with integrated lymphatics

A 5 million Euro NWA-ORC grant was awarded to hDMT researchers to develop immunocompetent human Organ-on-Chip models with integrated lymph drainage for drug discovery and testing (LymphChip). The project is led by Valeria Orlova (coordinator) from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Christine Mummery (LUMC) and Sue Gibbs (VUMC). The lymphatic system plays a crucial role in our immune system, for example by regulating the immune response to pathogens. Lymphatic dysfunction underlies many diseases and could determine the effectiveness of therapies, whether drug or stem-cell based. Yet, in the new generation of in-vitro organ models used to study the effect of drugs and...

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Booklet on Mini Organs-on-Chips launched

Today the Foundation ‘Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij’ has launched a booklet, entitled ‘Mini Organs-on-Chips. Towards new research models for studying disease and finding treatments’. This new publication in the series of so-called ‘Cahiers’ explains to a large audience, in an easy-to-understand language, what these promising Organs-on-Chips are, and what they can do and cannot (yet) do for health, and wellbeing of society and economy. A state-of-the-art overview is given of what can be expected from this technology, now and in the future. Examples illustrating the potential to improve and accelerate drug development, to enable personalized treatment and to reduce the number...

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