News

Major grant for 'Organ-on-a-chip' research

The research project NOCI (Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative) has been awarded a prestigious NWO Gravitation subsidy (Zwaartekracht premie) of 18.8 million euros. The program is led by Christine Mummery, Professor of Developmental Biology at the LUMC and UT, and involves five other renowned scientists: Michel Ferrari (neurologist, LUMC), Albert van den Berg (nanotechnologist, UT), Hans Clevers (cell biologist, Hubrecht Institute), Cisca Wijmenga (human geneticist, UMCG) and Lina Sarro (nanotechnologist, TU Delft), all linked to the organ-on-chip consortium Human Organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT). NOCI aims at creating a new platform, based on a combination of human stem cells and microchips, to learn more about the development of diseases and to better predict the effect of medicines, and will be a decisive step towards personalized health care.

Prof Lina Sarro: ‘The three-dimensional micro- and nano-structuring of silicon and polymers developed at TU Delft enables us to replicate organ functions precisely and reproducibly. Electrodes and sensors can be integrated in order to provide electromechanical stimulation and read out of the cells. In addition, the IC (integrated circuit)-compatible microfabrication techniques used allow large-scale production with high reproducibility, which is essential for a wide use and later commercialisation of these devices’.

For more information:
EEMCS website
hDMT website

Photograph by: Melvin Tas