Intermediate Path: The Science

Master the science of induced pluripotent stem cells. Learn the Yamanaka factors, reprogramming protocols, differentiation strategies, and quality control methods. Understand how iPSCs enable patient-specific disease modeling and personalized drug testing.

Compare different cell sources for NAMs: primary cells, immortalized lines, iPSC-derived cells, and tissue explants. Understand the trade-offs between physiological relevance, reproducibility, scalability, and cost for different applications.

Learn how to guide stem cells to become specific cell types. Explore differentiation protocols for hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, neurons, and other key cell types used in organ chips. Understand growth factors, small molecules, and timing.

Understand the physics of fluid flow at the microscale. Learn about laminar flow, diffusion dominance, Reynolds numbers, and how these principles are exploited in organ-chip design. Explore channel geometries and flow control strategies.

Explore the manufacturing processes behind organ chips. From soft lithography with PDMS to thermoplastic injection molding, understand how chips are made. Learn about material selection, biocompatibility, optical properties, and drug absorption challenges.

Step-by-step guide to organ-chip construction. Learn about membrane selection, cell seeding protocols, media perfusion, and establishing physiological conditions. Understand the critical parameters for successful chip operation.

Deep dive into liver chip technology - the most clinically validated organ chip. Learn about hepatocyte zonation, bile canaliculi formation, CYP450 metabolism, and how liver chips predict drug-induced liver injury with 87% accuracy.

Understand cardiac chip design for drug safety assessment. Learn about cardiomyocyte electrophysiology, mechanical contraction measurement, arrhythmia detection, and how heart chips complement the CiPA initiative for QT prolongation testing.

Explore kidney chip technology for nephrotoxicity assessment. Learn about proximal tubule function, glomerular filtration modeling, drug transporter expression, and why kidney toxicity is a leading cause of drug failure.

Learn how to connect multiple organ chips to model systemic drug effects. Understand scaling principles, common media formulations, inter-organ communication, and the challenges of building integrated body-on-chip systems.

Explore the sensor technologies integrated into organ chips. Learn about TEER measurements, oxygen sensing, metabolite detection, and how real-time monitoring enables dynamic assessment of tissue function and drug response.

Learn how to analyze and interpret organ-chip experimental data. Understand dose-response curves, EC50/IC50 calculations, statistical approaches, and how to correlate in vitro findings with clinical outcomes for regulatory submissions.