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Innovation examples
HealthInnovation
Katja Wolthers (Amsterdam UMC) - virus research in human models: let's show some guts!
To study viruses that make people sick, we often use laboratory animals. However, virus infections in animals are different than in humans. New 3D culture models or 'organoids', which look like human organs in a petri dish, offer a unique opportunity to investigate how viruses enter the human body and cause disease. Our research focuses on enteroviruses such as polio. Due to vaccination, polio is rare, but other enteroviruses are increasingly a threat to young children and patients with impaired immune defenses. There are no medications available, because knowledge about infections with enteroviruses is limited. In our research we use organoids to see how enteroviruses enter the human body and by which means you can prevent that, without the use of laboratory animals. With this project we want to show that our technique can replace the use of laboratory animals in virus research.
Various subjects
InnovationPolicy
TPI.tv: improving science through animal-free innovations and research
Introducing TPI.tv : a video platform by experts striving to improve science through animal-free innovations and research.
Expert interviews
HealthInnovation
Elly Hol (UMC Utrecht): possibilities for neuroscience
Prof. dr. Elly Hol (neuroscientist) talks about the opportunities for conducting animal-free research in Utrecht. She explains why it is necessary to use animal models next to cell-based models, for example for her Alzheimer research. More info at https://www.umcutrecht.nl/en/research/center/brain-center , http://translationalneuroscience.nl , http://www.ellyhollab.eu .
Innovation examples
HealthInnovation
Whole blood assessment of thrombosis tendency
Transgenic animals are often subjected to short and long term experimental models of thrombosis and atherosclerosis with considerable discomfort to the animal. This project aims to: 1) replace (human blood instead of animal blood), 2) reduce (a few drops of blood per test), and 3) refine (replace in vivo by in vitro testing with isolated blood) the use of laboratory animals with two new small blood volume function tests—the perfusion chamber and the thrombin generation test. Both tests will be equipped with a simple detection capability, which is affordable for laboratories. Their application is not only in the field of thrombosis and haemostasis but also for the investigation of other blood-related diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, diabetes and cancer. By Sanne Brouns (Department of Biochemistry CARIM, Maastricht University, the Netherlands) and Linda Herfs (Flowchamber B.V.).
Expert interviews
HealthIn vitro
Tony Kiuru (UPM Biomedicals)
Tony Kiuru discusses GrowDex, which is an animal free, ready to use hydrogel that mimics the extracellular matrix (ECM) and supports cell growth and differentiation with consistent results. Bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies GrowDex can be used for 3D cell culture for spheroid and /organoids, in personalised medicine, regenerative medicine, organ-on-a-chip models, drug release studies, 3D printing and much more. GrowDex hydrogel is manufactured according to ISO13485. You can find more information about GrowDex at https://www.upmbiomedicals.com/siteassets/documents/growdex-brochure-2018.pdf and https://www.linkedin.com/company/growdex/ . General email address: biomedicals@upm.com.
Meeting videos
HelpathonsIn vitro
Helpathon #4 - can you help Anne-Marie?
Can you help Anne-Marie develop a more organ-like Rhesus 3D liver model in which she can study the dormancy and the waking up of malaria parasites?
Join Helpathon #4, look at www.tpihelpathon.nl/coming-up !
Anne- Marie Zeeman is a researcher at the Biomedical Primate Research Center (BPRC). Anne-Marie studies recurrent malaria ( P. vivax). She successfully developed a single cell layer in vitro model to study compounds affecting dormant and active malaria parasites in the liver of Rhesus monkeys. We believe that the cross correlation between in vitro Rhesus and in vitro human models will provide the missing link required to improve the drug development process and aid transition. A more refined Rhesus in vitro model can reduce the number of monkeys currently used for testing drugs. The data from in vivo monkeys combined with new in vitro models could help validate and develop reliable human in vitro models making testing on monkeys unnecessary detours.
Meeting videos
HelpathonsEducationInnovation
Sign in for Helpathon #3: Daniela Salvatori
Daniela Salvatori calls for a Helpathon! She invites you to help her and TPI Utrecht to create a unique master course for animal free innovation. You can sign in for this Helpathon here: tpihelpathon.nl. Online, 18th - 19th of June 2020.
Expert interviews
EducationInnovation
Wim de Leeuw: Aim and activities of TPI Utrecht
TPI Utrecht facilitates the Utrecht infrastructure to stimulate the transition to animal-free innovation. There is a helpdesk, a group of ambassadors, and a 3Rs Stimulus Fund. A digital marketplace for exchange of tissues is being developed, and as well a hybrid centre for biomedical translation, where there will increasingly be place for animal-free techniques.
Expert interviews
DataLiterature
Brett Lidbury (The Australian National University)
Brett Lidbury is associate professor at the Research School of Population Health of The Australian National University. He applies machine learning to make predictions about health using human big data rather than animal experiments. For more information, go to www.anu.edu.au and search “Lidbury”.
Meeting videos
HelpathonsIn vitro
Helpathon #4 - can you help Raissa?
Can you help Raissa find a more complex organoid-like brain and immune model based on rhesus microglia to study aging in relation to neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases?
Join Helpathon #4, look at www.tpihelpathon.nl/coming-up !
Raissa Timmerman is a PhD student at the alternative unit at the Biomedical Primate Research Center. A better understanding of aging of the brain is key to studying neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. We believe there is a potential for breakthrough in using our existing live macaque data obtained from past aging experiments to develop more complex in vitro rhesus brain-like models and then to correlate all this data with data from human in vitro models and human live data.
Expert interviews
Education
Glenn Embrechts (European Schoolnet)
Skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are becoming an increasingly important part of basic literacy in today's knowledge economy. European Schoolnet is at the forefront of the debate on how to attract more people to science and technology to address the future skills gap that Europe is facing. STEM is one of European Schoolnet's major thematic domains. We have been involved in more than 30 STEM education initiatives, financed through European Schoolnet's Ministry of Education members, industry partners, or by the European Union's funding programmes. More information on social media: Social media: https://m.facebook.com/labonderwijs and https://www.instagram.com/lab_gedrevenonderwijs/ .
Meeting videos
HelpathonsHealth
Sign in for Helpathon #3: Saskia van Mil
Saskia van Mil calls for a Helpathon! She invites you to help her develop a human model for studying liver metabolism? You can sign in for this Helpathon here: tpihelpathon.nl. Online, 18th - 19th of June 2020.