Monday, June 26, 2023 | 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM CET
At this time, the 2023 Educational Workshop is SOLD OUT.
Please see below for information about how the workshop will be structured and our presenters!
HOW SIGN-UP WORKS:
Participants may only sign up for four (4) sessions.
Please sign up for one session per time slot.
- Session 1 will run from 1:05pm-1:45pm
- Session 2 will run from 1:50pm-2:30pm
- Session 3 will run from 2:35pm-3:15pm
- Session 4 will run from 3:20pm-4pm
The education and training session of the meeting is designed to educate the next generation of scientists and end-users in the field of Organ-on-Chip (OOC) and Microphysiological systems (MPS) through a hands-on experience. The meeting participants will be able to attend the 3-1/2 hour workshop, tailored to engage students and trainees in a constructive discussion around MPS technology and its applications.
The workshop is designed to cover the following topics:
- Immune-competent systems for drug testing and disease modeling
- Microphysiological systems for studying tissue barriers and drug metabolism
- Microengineered vascular systems for drug testing and disease modeling
- Stem cell-derived models for regenerative medicine and emerging engineering approaches
Each hands-on session will be 40 minutes long, with 30 minutes for presentations and 10 minutes of constructive discussion. Each session per table can accommodate a maximum of 10 attendees. During the session, the participants will attend up to 4 presentations and demonstrations from world class leaders in the field of MPS.
Limited number of participants. Enrollment for this workshop is limited to 140 participants. Note: In order to participate in this session you must be registered to attend the Summit in person. First come first served principle will be followed to fill out the spots.
Presenters
Altertox
How to validate an organ-on-chip technology with TATAbox
The hands-on course will focus on the key actions and steps required to develop and validate New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) based on Organ on a chip technology, by using the “Towards Alternatives To Animal testing” box (TATAbox). An edutainment game meant to open a conversation about NAMs and validation process in a fun and convivial environment. “TATAbox” material is not meant to be exhaustive in terms of content as well as persona but rather a starting point for discussion with concrete items on the process towards regulatory acceptance. During the session, Altertox will bring participants into the NAMs ecosystem by taking part of a TATAbox activity. The focus will be put on interactions as well as experience sharing, guided and moderated by Altertox trainer/speaker.
The trainees will learn:
- learn essential components to develop reproducible and robust Organ on a chip-based methods
- discover key stakeholders as well as their mindset dealing with alternatives to animal testing
- reflect on communication & dissemination strategy for a scientist
- brainstorm on challenges, opportunities and key actions and steps required to develop and validate NAMs (New Approach Methodologies) based on Organ on a chip
AlveoliX AG
Mimic the dynamic microenvironment of organ barriers using the AXBarrier-on-Chip System
The hands-on course will focus on the AXBarrier-on-Chip System. Participants will have the opportunity to perform some key manipulation steps using the AX12 and the system. Moreover, they will discover how easy it is to transition from standard Transwell to these new advanced models. The session will be split into three parts: overview of the technology, hands-on, and applications & readouts.
The trainees will learn:
- The advantages and applications of MPS mimicking the lungs
- How the system can be applied to their research
- How to model organ barriers including mechanical stimulation
BiomimX Srl
Beating Organs-on-Chip (OoC) as advanced in vitro models of human organs and diseases to progress the drug screening
The hands-on course will focus on the description of BiomimX’s unique Beating Organ-on-Chip platforms and their application in peculiar context of uses for drug screening. Beating OoC are advanced miniaturized devices integrating for the first time the native-like 3D mechanical microenvironment thanks to the proprietary uBeat® technology, which allows to modulate the mechanical deformation exerted on 3D microtissues. Three peculiar case studies, where the uBeat®-based mechanical stimuli was provided in a physiological and\or pathological fashion to develop advanced models, will be presented: i) uHeart, a beating heart-on-chip integrating real-time electrophysiological measurements for drug safety, ii) uKnee, the first in vitro model of human osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage-on-chip for drugs/medical devices efficacy, iii) uGut, a mechanically active model of the gastrointestinal barrier for drug absorption studies. Multi-Organs-On-Chip application will be also briefly introduced, by describing our preliminary data on a Liver-Heart and Liver-Tumor models.
The trainees will learn:
- Experimental basis for operating with Beating Organs-On-Chip (i.e. experimental plan; experimental end points and readouts)
- Hands on training for operating with Beating Organs-On-Chip (i.e. mounting/dismounting of the platform; liquid handling within the platform; connection with uBox controller; handling of uBox SW)
- Concept for using Beating OoC to develop organ/pathology models
- Concept of validation/qualification of a developed model for a specific context of use
CN Bio
How to build robust predictive human organ models to improve the success of novel therapies discovery.
Despite billions in annual investment, most drugs never reach the market because preclinical experiments fail to predict human effects. Building more predictive, human-relevant models is key to reducing drug attrition rates. In this training session, provided by CN Bio, we will explore how our PhysioMimix™ MPS technology can be implemented in your research to create human-specific tissue models such as liver, gut, or lung models to generate clinically translatable data. MPSs extend culture longevity up to a month, enabling studies that were not previously possible, such as the ability to profile phase I and II drug metabolism, characterize slowly metabolized compounds, identify potential metabolite-driven toxicity, or detect chronic and idiosyncratic toxicity.
The trainees will learn:
- The current limitations of the standard preclinical toolbox and the need for more human-relevant alternatives
- The regulatory landscape and the need for standardization (FDA modernization act)
- Overview of specific applications and their associated organotypic tissue models (e.g., disease modeling, drug efficacy and drug toxicity)
- The crucial need for cell validation and quality control assays as well as clinically translatable endpoints
Emulate, Inc.
The Human Emulation System® — a complete Organ-on-a-Chip solution for next-generation in vitro models
Emulate has developed a range of validated Organ-Chip models that enable researchers to emulate human biology more closely by combining human cell types, an organ-specific microenvironment, and tissue-relevant mechanical forces. Traditional Organ-Chip setups rely on complex and manual syringe pumps that not only require high technical expertise but also result in high variability in experimental success and results. We have created a set of Organ-Chip instruments and accessories designed to make the technology more accessible, easier to use, and more reliable so that you can generate more reproducible and robust data. The hands-on training will focus on teaching the participants the main aspects of the Emulate Organ-Chips setup and applications. During this session, we will explain and show how to handle the Emulate Organ-Chips and how to integrate tissue and organ-specific biology. We will also cover potential endpoints and terminal endpoint analyses that are feasible within Emulate Organ-Chips, focusing primarily on the assessment of tissue barrier function and immune cell recruitment.
The trainees will learn:
- Main features of the Emulate Organ-Chip design and capabilities of the human emulation system.
- Basic culture workflow for the establishment of Emulate Organ-chips.
- Sample preparation and potential endpoint analysis suitable for Emulate Organ-Chips.
- Example applications of Emulate Organ-Chips, including 1) immune cell recruitment in the Colon Intestine-Chip and 2) liver Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) transduction.
Hesperos Inc.
Evaluating long-term potentiation in a human iPSC-cortical neuron MPS system for assessing cognitive dysfunction
The hands-on course will focus on providing information to the trainees on assessing long-term potentiation (LTP) in a human-based iPSC-cortical neuron system. This will serve as a platform for evaluating cognitive deficits and drug efficacy in neurodegenerative diseases.
The trainees will learn:
- Correlating in vitro LTP with cognitive deficits in vivo
- How LTP is assessed in a cortical neuron MPS system
- Validation of neuronal activity and synapse-dependent LTP
- The ability of the cortical neuron MPS system to evaluate neurodegeneration
- Evaluating drug efficacy using LTP
InSphero AG
Advancing MPS towards robust screening applications and microfluidic immune-competent tissue-tissue interactions using scalable plate formats
- Presentation of our Akura™ Plate family and its unique features to achieve scalable applications from production to data analysis using spheroids and organoids.
- Introduction to our Akura™ Flow systems for higher-order applications, including organ-organ cross-talk and organ interactions with immune cells
The trainees will learn:
- Handling InSphero’s Akura™ Plates and how you can work with sophisticated 3D models as you are used to work in 2D without compromise.
- Practical steps to achieve robust and reproducible results with complex biological models.
- Introduction to our microfluidic Akura™ Flow systems and how easy you can start designing multi-organ experiments and add immune cells
- How to become a research partner and get free access to our latest microfluidic chips.
NETRI
A high-throughput microfluidic devices tool to study neurological disorders and dermo-cosmetics
The hands-on course will focus on neurological disorders (pain, motor nerve injury, etc.) and dermo-cosmetics (innervated skin, sensitive skin). A short presentation of the high-throughput platform NeoBento, the currently available NeuroFluidics lines architectures and the different applications allowed within our devices will be given. Each trainee will be able to get its hands on one of our organs-on-chip architectures in the NeoBento platform.
The trainees will learn:
- Prepare, manipulate and seed (using colloids) microfluidic devices
- Maintain Hydration in microfluidic cell cultures
- Prepare and perform High Throughput Screening for microfluidic devices (ex, liquid handling)
- Perform high content imaging systems for microfluidic readouts
- Perform Microelectrode Array recordings (ex, electrophysiological recordings) for microfluidicreadouts
- Mixing and matching microfluidic devices for optimal experimentation planning
- Safely perform cells fixation at different time points in microfluidic devices
- Safely and easily access samples for histochemical analysis from microfluidic devices
- Discover our data of pain and innervated skin models
Organ-on-Chip Centre Twente, University of Twente
The Translational Organ-on-Chip Platform (TOP): An open platform for modular interfacing of organs-on-chips
This hands-on educational and training session will focus on how standardization within the field of organ-on-chip (OoC) will allow for easy combination of different OoC/sensor/microfluidic components from academic or commercial sources, specifically through demonstrations with TOP. The Translational Organ-on-Chip Platform is based on open, publicly available standards which then allow for modularity, ultimately encouraging end-users – biologists and model developers – to select from a library of ISO compliant building blocks when developing their experimental OoC system. Participants will engage by ‘building’ their own OoC systems, seeing live demonstrations, and through discussions with TOP team members.
The trainees will learn:
- How to apply ISO standards to microfluidic chips
- Differences between (microfluidic) technologies with open and closed designs
- Why modular microfluidics can benefit trainees’ experimental end-points
- What role trainees play in contributing to the evolution of TOP and OoC standardization
Ossiform
3D printed bioceramics for studying bone and bone-related diseases
3D cell culturing and microphysiological systems have had an impressive rise in interest in recent years. With applications spanning from hydrogels to printed organs, flow dynamic chambers and organs-on-chips one might easily assume that most of the basics are covered now. Yet, one important tissue appears to have been forgotten – The mineralized part of our bones! Currently, very few systems provide researchers with a stiff, porous and tricalcium phosphate-rich 3D cell culture system, leaving researchers with the options of traditional cell culturing, animal derived bone discs or various types of polymer-based scaffolding techniques.
This course will focus on the usage of 3D printed bioceramic scaffolds provided by Ossiform. The course will dive into the proprietary technology which enables us to 3D print structures composed entirely of b-tricalcium phosphate, show videos of the general approach in the lab when working with the bioceramic scaffolds, elaborate on possible synergies with other systems and explain how the technology will progress towards clinical use-cases. As we cannot bring an entire cell laboratory with us, the course will mostly be theoretical and focus on answering questions about the technique, use-cases, future perspectives and every other question that might arise during the course.
The trainees will learn:
- How the 3D printed scaffolds are produced
- What the scaffolds can be used for
- How to perform some of the most common analyses used within molecular biology
- How to interpret images of the scaffolds acquired using imaging techniques such as bright-field microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy
React4Life
New MPS based in vitro models for immuno-oncological applications: co-culture of circulating immune cells and 3D cancer tissues for basic research and drug testing purposes.
The hands-on course will focus on the adoption of the MIVO platform for co-culturing 3D clinically relevant size tissue models (such as cancer models, biopsies, bioprinted scaffolds) and immune cells in circulating under physiological fluid flow conditions.
The MPS platform supports the optical imaging and an easy and fast sampling of both circulating immune cells and tumor environment, as well as the recovery of the two cells populations for further analysis (e.g., PCR, FACS, imaging).
The trainees will learn:
- a novel MPS based approach for studying the immune-cancer cells cross-talk for basic research
- a challenging in vitro alternative to test the efficacy of new immunomodulating agents
- a simple and effective way to culture 3D clinically relevant size human cancer tissues for personalized medicine applications
TissUse GmbH
Connecting 2D and 3D models in a Multi-Organ-Chip for safety and efficacy evaluation
In this hands-on course, the participants will learn how to handle different chip designs to co-culture up to four different organ-models in one microfluidic circulation. First, the presenter will give an overview of existing MPS platforms and place the HUMIMIC technology within this field of suppliers. It will be shown how the medium is circulating within the chip, enabling the transport of metabolites and organ specific products from one organ to the other. The participants will have the possibility to integrate different organ models like 2D models, 3D models and barrier models into the versatile chip system. Then, the participants can connect the chips to the Starter (control unit) to start the culture.
The trainees will learn:
- General handling of the HUMIMIC Chips
- Chip2 (co-culture of up to 2 organ models)
- Chip3 (co-culture of up to 3 organ models)
- Chip4 (co-culture of up to 4 organ models)
- Load the Chips with
- Cell culture insert for barrier models
- Cell suspension for 2D culture or matrix based organ models
- Spheroids
- 3D Matrix
- Practice how to perform a medium exchange
- Connect HUMIMIC Chips to the Starter (Control Unit)
- Time for questions and discussions
VITROCELL Systems GmbH
VITROCELL Cloud Aerosol Exposure System for Inhalation Studies using the AlveoliX AX12 Lung-on-chip
- Generation of an aerosol
- Discussion on the advantages of exposure of cells from the respiratory tract at the air/liquid interface
- Dosimetry using the Quartz Crystal Microbalance
- Lin-on-chip exposure to aerosols
The trainees will learn:
- Sample preparation
- Exposure routine
- Lung-on-chip handling
- Handling and cleaning