In this webinar, we will introduce the challenges of modeling complex microenvironments in vitro, such as the bone niche and the tumor microenvironment, and how innovative bioreactors can address these challenges by providing fluid dynamic flow and nutrient exchange to better recapitulate the physiological conditions of the in vivo environment, improving tissue development, cell viability, cell differentiation, and tissue organization.
We will give an overview of the recent 3D tissue models used to recapitulate the extracellular matrix features and how they combine with these new platforms reproducing cell-cells and cells-matrix interactions, pointing out the opportunities for setting more predictive preclinical assays. We will also explore the potential applications of this technology in drug discovery and personalized medicine, such as testing drug responses on patient-derived tumor samples.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr. Manuele Giuseppe Muraro is a project leader at the University Hospital Basel, Departments of Biomedicine, Tissue Engineering group, supervised by Prof Ivan Martin. He holds a master in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies (University of Bologna, Italy, 2006) and a PhD in Biomedicine (University of Basel, Switzerland, 2012). As co-investigator he participated in national and international funded projects mainly oriented to the development of innovative perfusion-based organotypic culture models for drug development and personalized medicine.
He is the supervisor of 2 PhD students, the authors of more than 30 papers in the field of tumor biology and tissue engineering, and an international patent application. Additionally, he serves as a scientific advisor to Cellec Biotek AG, a company focused on tissue culture bioreactors.
Silvia Scaglione is the founder and chief scientist of React4life, author of more than 80 international peer-reviewed papers, and owner of 7 patents. She coordinated a Future Emerging Technology (FET-OPEN) European H2020 project, entitled “Modeling spontaneous Breast cancer metastasis TO the Bone with a first-of-its-kind 3D device that recapitulates physiological tissue-level complexity -B2B”. She’s been nominated as Ambassador of the European Innovation Council (EIC) for her capacity to bring basic research results to the market, generating impact for society. She has also won the innovative start-up award of Gamma Donna 2021.