Biofabrication strategies for modelling kidney compartments and diseases (C06)

• Subject Area: Biomaterials ; Nephrology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 326998133

Ex vivo models are essential for studying kidney function and disease. This project aims to develop personalized in vitro platforms for kidney research by combining biofabrication techniques with patient-derived cells. It focuses on enhancing a glomerular filtration barrier model with physiological pressure and hiPSC-podocytes, biofabricating a proximal tubule model to study fibrosis and inflammation and creating composited kidney and blood vessel organoids within engineered scaffolds. These innovations will improve our understanding of kidney diseases at an individualized level.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 225: From the Fundamentals of Biofabrication towards Functional Tissue Models
• Applicant Institution: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
• Project Heads: Dr. Taufiq Ahmad, Ph.D., since 1/2022; Professorin Dr. Janina Müller-Deile, since 1/2022