Organs-on-Chip (OOC) are novel microfluidic platforms that mimic the complex physiological environment of human organs and tissues in vitro. They represent a promising technology to be applied in oncoimmunology to investgate the interactions between immune system and cancer. OOC allows the recapitulation of a microenvironment that closely resembles the in vivo environment, enabling researchers to study the complex and dynamic interactions between different cell types in a controlled and reproducible manner.
Experimental case studies on how specifically employ OOCs in biomedical and preclinical research in oncoimmunology will be presented. These include evaluating the efficacy of combined drug treatments in comparison to single agents, monitoring cancer cells vs immune cells crosstalk upon chemotherapy, and investigating the behavior of defined cell populations in specific OOCs microenvironmental settings.
Overall, the use of OOC in oncoimmunology research has the potential to revolutionize drug discovery and development. It provides a more physiologically relevant platform for testing drugs and predicting their efficacy in humans, thereby reducing the need for animal testing. Additionally, OOC can be used to develop personalized medicine approaches by analyzing the behavior of drug-treated tumor cells from cancer patients under standardized conditions.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr. Fabrizio Mattei is a senior scientist at Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome (Italy). His team is specialized in the applications of advanced models of study in onco-immunology. In this context, he is currently investigating the interactions between the immune system and tumors using organs-on-chip. In the recent past he has been scientific coordinator for a project granted by the Italian Ministry of Health and focused in deciphering the role of immunity in cancer by using microfluidic devices. He currently investigates the interactions between the immune system and several tumors using microfluidic devices. Dr. Mattei actively contributed to the scientific community by serving as an editorial board member and reviewer for various internationally renowned scientific journals and by evaluating research projects for international funding agencies. He recently co-founded the Italian Society for Organs-on-Chip (SiOoC).
Silvia Scaglione is the founder and chief scientist of React4life, author of more than 80 international peer-reviewed papers, and owner of 7 patents. She coordinated a Future Emerging Technology (FET-OPEN) European H2020 project, entitled “Modeling spontaneous Breast cancer metastasis TO the Bone with a first-of-its-kind 3D device that recapitulates physiological tissue-level complexity -B2B”. She’s been nominated as Ambassador of the European Innovation Council (EIC) for her capacity to bring basic research results to the market, generating impact for society. She has also won the innovative start-up award of Gamma Donna 2021.