Volker M. Lauschke is Professor in Translational Pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet,  Stockholm and Deputy Head of the Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology in Stuttgart,  Germany. His research group integrates 3D cell culture systems of primary human cells and  microfluidics with phenotypic and chemogenomic screening to discover novel therapeutic  strategies for NASH, infectious diseases (COVID-19 and hemorrhagic fevers) and complex  metabolic diseases (type 2 diabetes). In addition, the lab develops machine learning tools to  improve personalized pharmacological therapy and establish novel methods for the prediction  of drug toxicity. V.M.L. has authored over 140 papers and is the recipient of multiple awards in  the area of genetics, pharmacology and drug discovery, including the Malin and Lennart Philipson  Prize, the AAPS High Impact Award and the ISSX Karl Netter Award. Besides his academic work,  he is co-founder and CEO of HepaPredict AB, a biotech company offering 3D human liver models  for drug discovery and development.

OpenTox Virtual Conference 2023 

Organotypic and microphysiological human tissue models for translational toxicology and  pharmacology

The number of successful drug development projects has been stagnant for decades despite  major breakthroughs in chemistry, molecular biology and genomics. Unreliable translation of  preclinical in vitro and in vivo models has been identified as a major cause. Organotypic and  microphysiological culture of primary human cells has emerged as a promising set of tools for  preclinical drug development to narrow this translation gap. In this talk I will provide an overview  of our recent efforts in developing 3D human tissue cultures and microfluidic models for both  efficacy and safety assessments. In addition, the talk will present recent use cases where the use  of such organotypic cultures has had direct impacts on market authorizations.