QMUL Centre for Predictive in vitro Models News

45,000 people watch Will Young's visit to Queen Mary

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

It was fantastic to host musician Will Young, as he visited the Queen Mary Centre for Predcitive in vitro Models to learn more about how organ-on-a-chip technology may be used to reduce the use of animals in science. An organ-chip is a miniture device in which living cells can be grown to recreate the biology of human tissues and organs within a laboratory. These organ-chips can then be used for fundamental research and for testing new products and therapies, to provide a more accurate prediction of the way our bodies behave in health and disease. Bioengineers and scientists at Queen Mary are conducting world leading research to develop these organ-chip models, creating the right conditions within the chips so that the cells behave as they do in the body. The team made a short video clip about Will's visit which has now been seen by over 45 thousand people on Instagram. This is all part of Queen Mary's drive to raise awareness of this transformative organ-chip technology and conduct the research and development essential to translating these devices into industry inorder to accelerate the availability of new medicines and reduce animal testing.

Beginning of the end?

h.r.c.screen@qmul.ac.uk (Hazel Screen) — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hazel Screen, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Queen Mary and co-director of the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models, spoke to The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast about what the potential of in vitro models to be used in research to replace the use of animal models.

Queen Mary launches world's first masters degree in organ-on-a-chip technology

a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk (Ayden Wilkes) — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Queen Mary is proud to launch a new specialist bioengineering programme, MSc Organ-on-a-Chip Technologies, now open for September 2026 applications. Delivered within the renowned Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models, the course provides advanced training in next-generation organ-on-a-chip, tissue engineering and in vitro technologies. Following the Government's recently announced strategy to reduce the use of animals in science, non-animal research methods are gaining increased attention, and organ-on-a-chip technology has been named as a priority area for future investment. Organ-chip technologies enable the creation of realistic, human-centred models that advance understanding of disease mechanisms and therapeutic responses, with the potential for more accurate results than animal models. The MSc course will be industry-led, preparing students to shape the future of healthcare. As well as learning from globally-leading academics in the field, students will benefit from a network of 150+ industry affiliates across pharma, biotech, and regulatory agencies, including GSK, AstraZeneca, Baxter and the RSPCA. In addition to gaining technical expertise in biomedical engineering, students will also develop transferable skills in project management, entrepreneurship, ethics, and regulatory affairs. Graduates can expect career opportunities within research, consultancy, regulatory bodies, and more. This course follows the launch of a Centre for Doctoral Training in organ-on-a-chip technology at Queen Mary's CPM in 2025 – utilising £7 million in funding to train a new generation of experts in this future-facing technology. The Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models is one of the largest and most pioneering centres of its kind in the world, bringing together experts in 2D and 3D cell culture models, organoids, microphysiological systems, organ-on-a-chip technology and other non-animal methods.

QMUL team qualify an organ-chip model of breast cancer metastasis using a multi-omics approach

s.verbruggen@qmul.ac.uk (Stefaan Verbruggen) — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed and rigorously qualified a new organ-on-a-chip model that replicates the early stages of breast cancer bone metastasis, offering a promising alternative to animal studies. The microfluidic system brings together osteocytes, osteoclasts and breast cancer cells in a dynamic tri-culture, but its real advance lies in the comprehensive multi-omics validation undertaken by the team. By integrating RNA sequencing, cytokine profiling and high-content imaging, the researchers demonstrated that the chip faithfully reproduces key molecular and cellular signatures seen in established in vivo animal models. This robust, data-driven qualification provides a new benchmark for evidence-based confidence in organ-chip technologies, positioning the platform as a scalable tool for mechanistic studies and future drug screening. The study underscores the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models' commitment to developing human-relevant, well-validated alternatives to animal research. This work was funded by an EPSRC-CRUK multidisciplinary award and was a collaboration between bioengineers at the Centre for Bioengineering and the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models, and biologists at Barts Cancer Institute.

Will Young visits Queen Mary to explore alternatives to Animal Testing

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A group of high-profile guests visited Queen Mary's Centre for Predictive In Vitro Models on Tuesday 11th November, to explore the university's cutting-edge organ-on-a-chip facilities. The delegation included musician and animal advocate Will Young, a Director and Toxicologist from Lush cosmetics, and representatives from the charity Animal Aid. The group took part in presentations and workshops showcasing how organ-on-a-chip technology has the potential to revolutionise personalised medicine, speed up drug discovery, and significantly reduce the need for animals in scientific research. Professor Martin Knight led hands-on demonstrations of the technology in action, assisted by post-doctoral researchers, who showed the group commercial organ-chip platforms from Emulate, CN Bio and Mimetas, which are used for different applications. The visitors enjoyed pipetting into the chips and learning about how the different models work to mimic the environment of the human body. Organ-on-a-chip innovations have the potential to revolutionise treatments for cancers, heart, liver and kidney diseases, and much more. The visit took place on the day the Government announced a new strategy to reduce the use of animals in science, which names organ-on-a-chip technology as a priority area for future investment. Professor Hazel Screen, Head of the School of Engineering and Materials Science, said: "It was incredibly exciting to host the visit on the day the new strategy was announced, and we're equally excited to continue sharing our understanding of this technology with a wide range of stakeholders." Speaking at the visit, Karl Bygrave, Director at Lush, said: "Given that the Government announced its strategy for phasing out animal testing today, it was an amazing time to be here to see new models being developed, and the future of non-animal labs." "This technology is very exciting for Lush, what we're seeing is the future. As a cosmetics manufacturer, this technology will filter down to us, and in a number of years we will be using this for our own purposes, to check the safety of our products." Will Young said: "I feel very excited about the future. The aim is to have better science, better medicine and no abuse to animals – and today has shown me that that's possible." Queen Mary has recently launched the world's first taught master's degree in organ-on-a-chip technology, along with a Centre for Doctoral Training that will equip the next generation of specialists in the field. The university's organ-on-a-chip research is carried out in close collaboration with more than 150 affiliate organisations across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and regulatory sectors, ensuring that the technologies developed directly address industry needs.

The Centre for Predictive in vitro Models provide expert comment on new Government strategy

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Academics at the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models at Queen Mary University of London, have provided expert comment to the BBC about the new alternatives strategy launched today (11 November) by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Watch Queen Mary experts speak to the BBC about the Government's new alternatives strategy on 11 November from 6.10am. This new strategy outlines the Government's vision of eliminating the use of animals in research and development in all but exceptional circumstances, and sets out a plan to achieve this by replacing animals with alternative methods wherever possible. To explain more about this strategy, what these alternatives are and how they work, BBC's Pallab Ghosh spoke to Queen Mary academics Professor Hazel Screen, who co-directs the Queen Mary's Centre for Preventative in vitro Models (CPM) with her colleague Professor Martin Knight, and Professor Fran Balkwill, Deputy Lead at the University's Centre for Tumour Microenvironment. Listen to Professor Hazel Screen and Professor Fran Balkwill speak about the strategy on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on 11 November at 7.30am-7.40am. Professor Screen spoke to Pallab about the world-leading research work she and her colleagues are carrying out at Queen Mary's CPM. This centre, which has state-of-the-art facilities including organ-on-a-chip technology, aims to develop the next generation of predictive in vitro models that can be used to reduce the use of animals in research. Researchers in the CPM are developing a wide range of approaches to study conditions such as arthritis, inflammation, cancer and cardiovascular disease. By working with pharmaceutical companies and other end users, researchers aim to maximise the adoption of these alternative methods in order to drive human-relevant science and accelerate the development of better medicines. Professor Balkwill spoke to Pallab about her research into complex multi-cellular models of ovarian cancer, which include the tumour microenvironment. These models, often referred to as organoids, provide a 3D multi-cellular model of ovarian cancer which allows Professor Balkwill and her team to understand things like cell-to-cell communication in the tumour microenvironment, test new biological therapies and study sensitivity and resistance to T cell killing. As well as delivering world leading research developing and using these alternative methods, Queen Mary is also pioneering in the UK and globally when it comes to educating and training the researchers in this field. They are doing this via their EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in next generation organ-on-a-chip technologies, which has welcomed its first cohort of PhD students, and the world's first Master's Degree Programme for organ-on-a-chip technology, which has recently opened to applications. Through these education programmes, world leading research and industry engagement, Queen Mary is ideally placed to help achieve the Government's aim of reducing the use of animals in science.

Prof Knight interviewed in the Metro about Alternatives strategy

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Prof Knight was interviewed by the Metro related to the publication of the Governments strategy on replacing animals in science through development of 'alternative methods' such as organ-on-a-chip technology. Watch the interview and read the article in the Metro

Novel adipo-mimetic model to study cancer cell migration in adipose tissues

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 23:00:00 GMT

There is increasing evidence correlating the progression of cancers such as ovarian and breast cancers or leukaemia with the microstructure and composition of their surrounding adipose (fat) tissues. In a recent reports published in Nature Communications, researchers from the CPM have shown that cancer cells migrate particularly fast in fat tissues. This research, funded by the European Research Council and led by the team of Prof Julien Gautrot at Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with Professor Fran Balkwill of Barts Cancer Institute and Dr Jordi Gonzalez-Molina and Prof Kaisa Lehti at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, demonstrates the importance of the unique microstructure and mechanical properties of adipose tissues on the regulation of cancer cell migration. To study cancer cell migration in adipose tissues relevant to patients, the team of Prof Gautrot characterised the speed at which ovarian cancer cells migrate through ovarian cancer patient adipose (fat) tissue samples and in a new type of biomaterials mimicking adipose tissues. In these adipo-mimetic biomaterials, the CPM researchers were able to control a range of different physio-chemical and biochemical parameters that together regulate cancer cell migration. These materials mimicked the microstructure and mechanics of fat cells (adipocytes) using microdroplet tehchnologies. This allowed the control of the size and numbers of adipocyte-mimicking microdroplets, parameters that correlate with the progression of cancers such as ovarian cancer and leukaemia. It also allowed the control of the local mechanics of the adipo-mimetic materials. This is the first time that a bioengineering approach has allowed scientists to recreate adipose tissues with such level of control over microstructural, mechanical and biochemical properties. How cancer cells would respond to these factors was not previously known. Prof Julien Gautrot said "In many instances, cancer cells migrate and home in to adipose tissues, where they can form tumours. Surprisingly, very little is known of cell or cancer cell migration in adipose tissues and our work shows that this is regulated very differently to cell migration in other fibrous tissues. Understanding this phenomenon will be important, not only for the modelling of these processes in vitro, but also to identify novel strategies that may help us to fight the progression of cancers." The correlations observed in the models developed, tissues obtained from patients and the established changes in tissue properties recovered from patients with different grades of ovarian cancers are particularly striking and suggest that adipose tissues may constitute a unique environment in which tumours can develop rapidly. Link to this research article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62296-7

Animals in Science Committee visit to Queen Mary in vitro models facilities

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

We were delighted to host a visit from the UK Government's Animals in Science Committee and the associated policy unit at the Home Office. The group visited the Queen Mary in vitro models facilities, part of the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models, where we were able to demonstrate some of the organ-on-a-chip platforms in use within the Centre. These platforms enable researchers to build complex in vitro models which provide an valuable alternative to the use of animals in science, and help to deliver highest quality human-relevant science, and to accelerate the delivery of new therapeutics. Queen Mary's Centre for Predictive in vitro Models and Centre for Bioengineering are at the forefront of this field, leading exciting research, training and translation. We host the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in next generation organ-on-a-chip technology providing world leading PhD training, delivering over 60 highly skilled PhD graduates through 4 successive cohorts. And we work closely with industry and other stakeholders through our affiliates club which has representatives from over 100 companies and organisations in this rapidly developing field.

Queen Mary researchers awarded MRC funding to develop human tendon-on-a-chip technology

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Queen Mary University of London has secured funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to launch a pioneering research project aiming to transform the understanding and treatment of tendinopathy—a painful and often chronic tendon condition affecting millions worldwide. The three-year project, Human Tendon-CHIP, will combine cutting-edge bioengineering, materials science and cellular biology to develop novel human-relevant, vascularised organ-on-a-chip models of tendon disease. The interdisciplinary team is led by Professor Hazel Screen alongside Dr Nidal Khatib at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, as well as collaborators Professors John Connelly and Dr Liisa Blowes at The Blizard Institute, and clinical liaison Professor Xavier Griffin at Queen Mary and Barts Health. Dr Nidal Khatib, Postdoctoral Research Associate and researcher co-lead on the grant, said: "Our goal is to develop tendon models which capture how tendons function and get injured using cells extracted directly from human tendon placed in microengineered environments. These 'tendon-chips' will allow us to recreate the physical, cellular, and immune landscape of tendon tissue, giving us an unprecedented window into human disease progression and ways to explore possible new treatments." The project will be delivered at Queen Mary's new state-of-the-art in vitro models facilities, which provides access to a range organ-on-a-chip platform technologies as well as the CREATE Lab for advanced tissue engineering. The project will create two advanced organ-on-a-chip systems. One will use an existing commercial platform to model how tendon cells interact with blood vessels. The other will be a custom-made, three-channel chip developed in-house. This will allow researchers to study different tendon cell types and how they interact with blood and immune cells, which is important due to new findings in tendon biology. By recreating key physical and inflammatory stimuli that drive tendon disease, the team hopes future research will be able to leverage these novel platforms to identify new disease pathways and potential drug targets. These platforms could offer a breakthrough in drug discovery for tendon disorders, accelerating progress towards effective regenerative treatments while reducing reliance on animal models. Professor Hazel Screen, lead investigator, commented: "This project marks a major step forward in tendon research. Our tendon-chips are designed not just to simulate disease but to actively drive it, enabling us to probe its causes and test potential treatments in a controlled, human-relevant system. The initiative also supports Queen Mary's broader commitment to replacing animal models with more predictive, ethically responsible alternatives for biomedical research." The research builds on Queen Mary's world-leading expertise in organ-on-a-chip technologies, facilitated through its Centre for Predictive in vitro Models. The outcomes have the potential to benefit patients, clinicians, and the wider healthcare system by improving diagnostic precision and supporting the development of targeted, effective therapies.

CPM researchers develop 3D printed human skin models to better investigate immune responses

s.verbruggen@qmul.ac.uk (Stefaan Verbruggen) — Thu, 15 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Scientists at the CPM in Queen Mary University of London have developed advanced 3D printed human skin models that mimic key immune responses in real human tissue, opening the door to more accurate studies of skin diseases and inflammatory processes. Developed by researchers at the Blizard Institute, the novel models include blood vessel-like microfluidic channels that can deliver circulating immune cells into the system, allowing scientists to study how the immune system reacts to threats such as bacteria without needing to rely on animal models. The paper was published in Advanced Science. The studies were carried out by Dr Sarah Hindle as part of her PhD, along with Holly Bachas Brook and Dr Alexander Chrysanthou in Prof. John Connelly's group. The work also involved collaboration with Dr Matthew Caley in the Centre for Cell Biology and Cutaneous Research and Dr Emma Chambers in the Immunobiology group. Check out the full story here!

CPM bioengineers achieve micro-scale breakthrough with big promise

m.m.knight@qmul.ac.uk (Martin Knight) — Mon, 12 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

New techniques mimic the complexity of living human organs provide an alternative to using animals in science. Bioengineers at Queen Mary University of London have taken a significant step forward in the development of laboratory-based models of human tissues which may be used as alternatives to animal testing. The group develops organ-on-a-chip technology in which human cells are grown in tiny plastic 'chips' to mimic the biology of tissues found in the body. In their latest research, published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering, the group describes new methods to increase the complexity of these models, making them even more like human tissues. The study offers a new way to precisely guide cell behaviour by controlling the spatial distribution of growth factors, which act as biological signalling molecules. By doing so, the team was able to recreate different tissues in different locations, mimicking the interfaces between tissues which are critical in both health and disease. "The tissues in our bodies are incredibly complex, and recreating this complexity in the laboratory is difficult, said Dr Tim Hopkins, the lead researcher in the study. "Techniques such as organ-on-a-chip offer an improved option to generate tissue models but, until now, methods to really mimic tissue complexity in these models were lacking. By creating gradients of growth factors, we can recreate the complex environment that cells experience in the body, so that they behave in the same way in our models." What makes this breakthrough especially exciting is that the new methods work across a range of different human tissues and different commercial platforms. This means that the research can be used to help scientists understand disease processes and test new therapies, across a wide range of human diseases, without the use of animals which often poorly predict human biology. "This work could make a big difference to how we study diseases and test drugs, said Professor Martin Knight, Co-Director of Queen Mary's Centre for Predictive in vitro Models. "This research could help speed up the development of safer, more effective treatments, and reduce our reliance on animal testing." To demonstrate the capability of these new methods, Professor Knight, Dr Hopkins and the team used a growth factor called bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) which is heavily involved in bone development. By creating regions in the organ-chips with high and low concentrations of BMP-2, the researchers could control the behaviour of human stem cells within the system, generating bone-like regions interfacing with cartilage-like regions, and mimicking the natural process of bone development. The work was funded by grants from the National Centre for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animals in research (NC3Rs), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The team are working on a range of organ-on-a-chip technology, developing and validating new techniques and models of different organs and diseases, in partnership with industry.

French National Research Agency joins push to bring organoids and organ-on-chip technology to ...

s.verbruggen@qmul.ac.uk (Stefaan Verbruggen) — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 23:00:00 GMT

The exploratory research program Organs and organoids on chips (PEPR MED-OOC) aims to deploy a new generation of biological models in France through the development of organs and organoids on chips (O&OoC). The State has entrusted its management to the CEA, the CNRS and Inserm, and the scientific direction to Xavier Gidrol (CEA), Anne-Marie Gué (CNRS), and Jean Rosenbaum (Inserm). MED-OOC is funded by France 2030 over 6 years and has a budget of €48.4 million operated by the National Research Agency (ANR).