Swiss-Chinese cooperation for organs-on-a-chip and stem cell research

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Katarzyna S. Kopanska , Markus Rimann
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Kopanska, K. S. and Rimann, M. (2020) “Swiss-Chinese cooperation for organs-on-a-chip and stem cell research”, ALTEX - Alternatives to animal experimentation, 37(3), pp. 495–500. doi: 10.14573/altex.2006161.
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Meeting Reports
Author Biography

Markus Rimann, Competence Centre TEDD, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology (ICBT), ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Wädenswil, Switzerland; Centre for Cell Biology & Tissue Engineering, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology (ICBT), ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Wädenswil, Switzerland

Markus Rimann completed his degree in Biology, specialty in Biotechnology, at the ETH Zurich in 2005. As a PhD student, he was developing a somatic gene therapy approach to improve cutaneous wound healing. He received his Dr. sc. nat. from the ETH Zurich in 2009. As postdoc at the Center for Applied Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine (CABMM) at the University of Zurich, he was focusing on the usage and tracking of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the treatment of osteoporosis. Since 2011, he works at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in the Tissue Engineering team of Prof. Dr. Graf-Hausner. On one hand, he was responsible for the successful implementation of the promising bioprinting technology at the ZHAW and on the other hand, he was involved in initiating the TEDD (Tissue Engineering for Drug Development and Substance Testing) Competence Centre. The TEDD network is a collaborative innovation platform, dedicated to 3D cell culture technology and organ-like tissue models for drug development, substance testing, personalized and regenerative medicine. The network pools and transfers knowledge and technologies by combining diverse skills through integrative cooperation among academic, clinical and industrial partners. He works with different 3D cell culture systems with or without scaffolds. His research is mainly application-driven to make organotypic model systems available for industry as well as for the clinics. The focus is on developing 3D cell models for substance testing including automated production, maintenance and analysis. From 2016, he became a group leader in the team of Prof. Dr. Raghunath, the successor of Prof. Dr. Graf-Hausner. Since August 2019, he is leading the TEDD Competence Centre.