While dementia research has greatly progressed over the past years thanks to animal and cellular models, the many unsuccessful clinical trials suggest that improved human-based model systems remain a necessity. Brain organoid models are gaining increased momentum. Based on patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), they are a promising tool to translate scientific discoveries to human individuals and to use in drug screening studies. As such, brain organoids have a strong potential to advance personalized medicine.

A severe limitation of current organoid models is their short lifetime due to lack of vasculature, which is needed to provide oxygen and nutrients to the cells. For this reason, they are not reaching their full potential for use in neurodegenerative disease research today.

In this project, we will equip neural organoids with a perforated silicon mesh in the form of nanoengineered vasculatures. The mesh will be chip- and microfluidics-based to provide structure as a scaffold, perfuse all necessary nutrients, oxygen and growth factors to stimulate cellular growth in three dimensions, and allow functional measurements and sampling from the cells.

The project consists of four main phases. First, we will perform microfluidic simulations and modelling to define the optimal scaffold requirements in size, flow rate etc. Next, we will fabricate and characterize the first scaffolds, building on prior experience with the brain-on-chip device. The growth, viability, expression profiles and other properties of neural organoids will be thoroughly characterized and further optimized. Finally, our new tool will be applied to Alzheimer’s disease by growing patient-derived neural organoids on the microfluidic scaffold.

We're currently looking for a PhD researcher to strengthen our team at imec. Read more and apply