European Organ-on-Chip Society open for active membership

The founding phase is complete: the European Organ-on-Chip Society (EUROoCS) is now welcoming members to join. The annual conference, held this year in Graz (Austria), saw the launch of the community website and the start of its availability as an information resource. “We invite scientists, engineers, as well as regulators and patient representatives interested in these new laboratory models to become active members of the society and contribute to efforts of the Organ-on-Chip community in promoting recognition and implementation of  this exciting research field,” says Christine Mummery, chair of EUROoCS and professor of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands 

Organ-on-Chip (OoC) systems are among the latest emerging technologies for healthcare research. It is believed they will accelerate drug discovery, advance drug efficacy and toxicology testing and open new opportunities for personalized medicine. “Organ-on-Chip systems can reduce and perhaps eventually replace animal experiments and provide predictive human data before expensive and lengthy clinical trials actually start,” vice-chair Peter Loskill says. The biophysicist heads the Organ-on-Chip research group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Germany.