One of Europe’s largest facilities for organ-on-a-chip technology opened at Queen Mary University of London.
The QMUL in-vitro Models Facilities will contribute to human disease research and drug development through the advancement of small bioengineered models called organ-on-a-chip (OOC).
The event on 20 February also celebrated the launch of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council funded EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Organ-on-a-Chip technologies (COaCT).
QML’s Professor Hazel Screen said: “There was a real buzz, real excitement from everybody about what the next few years will bring as we start to use the facility and drive the Centre for Doctoral Training.
“There’s a huge interest from pharmaceutical companies and others, realising that if we have better in-vitro models, we can do better science across the board.”
Prof Screen is co-Director of the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models at QMUL, which houses both the facilities and COaCT, making her the director of both units.
Over the next eight years, COaCT will train 60 PhD students to become industry leaders and experts in OOC systems.
OOCs recreate functional human organs by placing specific types of cells in a polymer infrastructure, within which researchers mimic the environment the cells would experience in the body.
By acting like mini organs, OOCs are a form of in-vitro research which could replace animal models used for drug development.
At the moment many pre-clinical trials use animal models or cells on a plate, which might not completely reflect how the drugs work in patients.
Reliable models are key for conducting accurate research about diseases and potential treatments.
Prof Screen explained: “If we don’t have good quality models to do that research, we are going to struggle with doing good quality discovery science.
“We’re going to struggle to learn and understand more about the disease and struggle to find drugs to treat them.”
“They are not telling us what we need to know about our biology, about whether the drugs work.
“We have the opportunity if we have good models, if we get the science right, we completely unblock that entire pathway to bring these drugs to the treatment they need.”
Currently the centre uses models of the liver, kidney, intestine and several other tissues and cancers.
The actual design of each OOC system differs depending on the organ.
A unique feature of laboratories is that QMUL collaborates with industry partners, such as Emulate and CN Bio, who provide the infrastructure or system, called platform technology, for the model.
The launch brought together key stakeholders, industry leaders, and members from academia.
The facility was set up after obtaining funding from the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).
At the same time, they received £7million from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council and over £4million from industry to open COaCT.
Prof Screen said: “It has provided us with probably the largest facility to do organ chip research in the country, so one of the largest in Europe.
“Now, that really provides that infrastructure that underpins us driving the Centre for Doctoral Training and driving the field forward. It is incredibly exciting.”
The first students for COaCT will begin in October.
OOC technology has been around at least 15 years but the field has grown over recent years due to a move towards more in-vitro research.
Prof Screen is excited about the field’s future and potential application in personalised medicine and equitable healthcare.
She said: “I think it is really an opportunity to revolutionize healthcare, I suggest, down the line.”
Image from the new QMUL facilities. Credit: Queen Mary University of London
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