Project Coordinator
Dr. Carlos Mota
Dr. Carlos Mota is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Complex Tissue Regeneration, MERLN Institute for Technology-inspired Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University. Dr. Mota received his PhD in Biomaterials from the BIOS research doctorate school in Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Pisa, Italy, in March 2012. His doctoral studies were focused on the development of new approaches for the fabrication of polymeric scaffolds for Tissue Engineering applications. Currently, his main research interests are focused on bioprinting and additive manufacturing techniques for the development of tissue engineered constructs and in vitro models.
Research team leaders
Dr. Eva-Maria Dehne
Dr. Eva-Maria Dehne is heading the research and development activities at TissUse GmbH. She received her PhD in Biotechnology from the Institute of Medical Biotechnology at the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany in March 2014. Her doctoral studies were focused on the generation of a Multi-Organ-Chip-based liver equivalent for toxicity testing. Dr. Dehne specializes in alternatives to animal testing, tissue engineering and bioreactor technologies. She is experienced in designing and manufacturing of multi-organ microphysiological systems and performing multi-tissue co-cultivations.
Dr. Franck Halary
Dr. Franck Halary is an INSERM Research Associate in the Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology (CR2TI) , University of Nantes (UN, France). He received his PhD in Immunology from the UN in December 1999. His PhD work reported original control mechanisms for human unconventional T cells. Then, he worked at elucidating a new cell-specific attachment receptor for the human cytomegalovirus (1) and unprecedented antiviral immune responses in renal transplant patients (2). More recently, based on several original studies, he and co-workers proposed new insights in dendritic cell (DC) biology (3-9) as well as a new role for renal myeloid DCs in the propagation of post-transplant reactivating BK polyomavirus (10). He has now redirected his research towards the use of tissue engineering techniques including bioprinting and organ-on-chips to create innovative and biologically-relevant humanized experimental models. These models will allow to address unsolved questions in immunology and virology.
Dr. Gavin Jeffries
Gavin D. M. Jeffries, PhD; Chief Technology Officer at Fluicell AB. Gavin holds a PhD in chemistry and he is a former assistant Professor at Chalmers University with over 40 peer-reviewed publications and a citation count of over two thousand. As an entrepreneur/founder of two biotech and optics companies and inventor of multiple patents and technologies, Gavin has a strong background in microfluidics, single-cell analysis, and optical platform integration.
Communication and Commercial Exploration
Dr. Jonas Hannestad
Jonas is Chief Marketing and Communication Officer at Fluicell. He has a PhD in physical chemistry from Chalmers University of Technology and experience as a postdoctoral researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and Chalmers University of Technology. Jonas combines a diverse background in scientific research with experience from independently managing science communication projects blending science, art and technology.
Maastricht University (MU) is the youngest and most international university in the Netherlands. Ranked 7 in QS “Top 50 under 50”, the university has more than 16.500 students, 4.000 staff and 55.000 alumni, with over 70% foreign PhD students from more than 100 student nationalities. MU is part of the Maastricht health campus and the constant interaction with hospital physicians ensures the proper environment for the development of clinically and physiological relevant models.
https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/
The University of Nantes (UN) has approximately 38,000 students enrolled each year, one doctoral college with eight post-graduate schools and 3,200 research staff working in 75 accredited labs. UN has research agreements with industry and shares its discoveries with the society at large. As a multidisciplinary university, programs in most fields of knowledge and academic paths are offered.
Fluicell AB is a Sweden-based, publicly traded, biotech company with a commercialized product portfolio for biomedical research. The company is a world leader and pioneer in open-volume microfluidics for the life sciences and holds a strong IP and patent position with five different patent families in the estate. By zooming into the level of individual cells, the company redefines the approach to cell biology with its unique microfluidic technologies. Fluicell’s products enable access to the level of individual cells, by improving experimental abilities for localized compound delivery, ion channel screening and bioprinting.
TissUse is a Berlin, Germany-based, biotech company who has developed a unique “Multi-Organ-Chip” platform to accelerate the development of pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, and personalized medical products. This enabling technology platform consists of a miniaturized construct that closely simulates the activity of multiple human organs in their true physiological context. Therewith, TissUse’s Multi-Organ-Chips provide preclinical insight on a systemic level using human tissue and enable the direct prediction of effects of substances and their metabolism on near real-life models.
The MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine operates in the field of biomedical engineering by combining creative research with training of a generation of interdisciplinary scientists. MERLN’s research activities are developed at the interface of biology and engineering. The research and training at MERLN is focused on developing novel and breakthrough technologies to advance the field of regenerative medicine envisioning tissues and organs repair. Our expertise lies in biology, chemistry, materials science and engineering, with a distinct emphasis on biomedical applications, including regenerative medicine.
The Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology (CR2TI) is a Joint Research Unit (UMR 1064) affiliated to the UN and INSERM. CR2TI gathers researchers and clinicians with expertise in immunology, transplantation, autoimmunity, inflammation, virology, nephrology, regenerative medicine, genetic and bioinformatics. This research laboratory develops innovative projects going from basic to clinical research. The main objectives of these projects are to improve treatments and patient monitoring in transplantation and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) through understanding immune responses, developing new immunotherapeutics, biomarkers, tools for personalized medicine and developing alternative strategies for organ or tissue replacement.
BIRDIE Project Website 