(Multi)Cellular Models

The development of treatments and strategies to heal tissues and organs (pathologic or not) requires the understanding of the tissue cellular microenvironment. Moreover, the validation of these strategies is a fundamental step towards clinical translation. The development of realistic (multi)cellular models of organs and their microenvironment will allow reducing the use of animal experimentation as well as to understand the signalling and interplay between different cells in pathologic tissues.

At BioSmarTE we seek to understand the pathological microenvironment of diseased organs, such as osteoarthritic knees, in order to develop regeneration strategies that not only serve to heal but also to cure the tissue. Similarly, we develop multicellular models of other diseased systems that serve as drug screening platforms that at long term aim to reduce the animal experimentation. To do so, we exploit bioprinting strategies where multiple inks and cells are combined with spatial resolution. One example of this is the development of "mini-brains" to study glioblastoma and to develop strategies capable of cross the blood-brain-barrier.