Teams

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Thomas Huser is Coordinator of the EIC Pathfinder Open project DeLIVERY and the Lead for Work Package 2. He has been a Professor of Physics at Bielefeld University since 2011. Before joining Bielefeld University he was a professor in the Deaprtment of Internal Medicine and Chief Scientist for the NSF Center for Biophotonics at the University of California, Davis.

Jasmin Schürstedt is a second year Ph.D. candidate. She obtained her M.Sc. in Physics from Bielefeld University with a Master Thesis on Optical Projection Tomography. She is utilizing and developing structured illumination microscopy methods towards the study of living LSEC.

Henning Ortkraß is a third year Ph.D. candidate. He obtained his M.Sc. in Physics from Bielefeld University with a Master Thesis on the application of optically trapped polystyrene beads for single molecule tracking. He is developing novel implementations of structured illumination microscopy, e.g. more light-efficient versions with enhanced field-of-view for the study of LSEC.

Surjendu Bikash Dutta is a postdoctoral associate at Bielefeld University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IIT Indore) with a background in Raman spectroscopy and Optica Coherence Tomography (OCT) for Biomedical Applications. Before joining the DeLIVERY project he worked on the application of planar polymer waveguides for super-resolution microscopy. He is developing novel implementations of light sheet fluorescence microscopy and OCT for imaging living liver slices.

Peter McCourt is a Professor in the Department of Medical Biology at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. Peter is teaching Biochemistry to Medical Laboratory Scientists and to Dental Nurses. He also supervises a number of PhD and MSc students. His current research involves developing super-resolution optical methods (SIM and dSTORM) for the study of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) fenestrations, and how they change with ageing. He is also studying endocytic processes in LSEC, and in their „cousins“, bone-marrow sinusoidal endothelial cells.

Erik Sveberg Dietrichs is Associate Professor and head of the Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology Research Group at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. He is also consultant physician at the Center for Psychopharmacology at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway. He has won several prizes and scholarships for disseminating science. Peter and Erik jointly lead work package 4, „New refenestration, anti-fibrosis therapies, and polypharmacy approaches“, of the DeLIVERY project.

Karolina Szafranska is a postdoctoral researcher in the Vascular Biology Research Group at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. She has a multidisciplinary background stretching between Biology, Biophysics and Physics. Her current work focuses on Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells (LSECs) and other hepatic cells and the application of different types of microscopy for the study of cell morphology, especially liver fenestrations.

Leo van Grunsven is the Principal Investigator of the Liver Cell Biology research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and is responsible for leading Work Package 3. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Ecole Normale Superieur in Lyon, France and completed his post-doctoral training at the NINDS in Bethesda, USA, and KULeuven in Leuven, Belgium. Since 2009, he has been a professor of Biomedical Sciences at the VUB. His research is focused on understanding the mechanisms involved in liver fibrosis development and developing in vitro models to study acute and chronic liver diseases.
Milan Lobo is a first-year Ph.D. candidate in the field of medical sciences at the VUB. After earning his bachelor’s degree in biology, he pursued a M.Sc. in Molecular Biology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). During this time, he undertook an in-depth study of immunology on tumor-associated macrophages. Currently, Milan is focused on investigating the adverse effects of polypharmacy on the liver in vitro using mouse precision-cut liver slices and multicellular liver spheroids. He is committed to developing protocols for the seamless incorporation of these models into the bioreactor, leveraging his expertise in medical sciences to make meaningful contributions to the field.
Yuwei Yang is a first-year Ph.D. candidate with a background in Biomedicine. She completed her Master’s degree in Biomedicine from Zhejiang University, where she focused on Stem Cell Biology. Currently, Yuwei is conducting research on liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) and their dedifferentiation processes. Her research aims to identify and compare the similarities and differences of LSEC dedifferentiation during liver injury and in 2D and 3D in vitro cultures, using RNA transcriptomic analysis. Yuwei’s research has the potential to provide critical insights into the underlying mechanisms of LSECs dedifferentiation and contribute to the development of effective treatments for liver diseases.
Jean-robin PEITEADO is currently Mechatronics project manager at Cherry Biotech, in charge of continuing the development of the Microphisiological Systems (MPS), different CubiX models, software and conducting research in the MPS control systems governing algorithms. He obtained his mechanical engineering and interactive design degree in Polytech Montpellier in 2020.  Previously working as a mainframe software developer at Sopra Steria Banking.
Alberto Ortega is the Responsible for Production & Industrialization at Cherry Biotech. He obtained his M.Sc. in Electromechanical Engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid. He’s currently working on the development of new solutions and the industrialization of the micro physiological system and associated microfluidics. Before joining Cherry Biotech he worked on the development and industrialization of biotechnological prototypes meant to purify air & sterilize objects using non-thermal atmospheric plasma.
Sofiene Mathlouthi is a Mechatronics Engineer, by the École Nationale d’ingénieurs de Sousse, that joined Cherry Biotech at the end of 2022 after acquiring some work experience through different internships in Tunisia and Germany. He has experience in machine learning, sensors, electronics and mechanical parts design. Currently focusing on chemical and biological sensors testing and new microfluidic cartridge development for super-resolution microscopy
Dr. Harry Dawson has been recently recruited as Scientific Project Manager and researcher at Cherry Biotech to assist in external scientific project management and internal R&D development. Harry completed an MSc in Biomedical Engineering in Paris, focused on biomaterials and microfluidic systems. From this, he completed a PhD CIFRE project with the pharmaceutical company MedinCell to develop high-throughput microfluidic systems for drug development. During this time, he also completed an MBA specializing in innovation management in varying sized companies.
Dr. Mathilde Cadoux has been recruited as Immunology Project Manager at Cherry Biotech and focuses on developing immunocompetent MPS, including a liver model to assess drug hepatotoxicity in vitro. Mathilde completed her PhD on Immunology at the Université de Paris where she studied immunosurveillance mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma. She then focused her research during her Post-Doc on the role of macrophages during liver fibrosis and regeneration.
Dr. Pierre Gaudriault is a PharmD and PhD in toxicology currently shareholder and responsible for the scientific Business Development of Cherry Biotech. Pierre has over the course of his PhD authored 4 peer reviewed papers and during his career in Cherry Biotech 2 additional peer reviewed paper and a book chapter. His has a strong expertise in human physiology, toxicology, organ on chip, business development and analytics.
Dr. Dario Fassini has been working at Cherrybiotech since 2017. Initially granted a MSCA-IF he became fascinated by bridging cutting edge science and market needs. Since then he continued his mission at cherrybiotech and he is currently responsible for the biological facilities and the development of biological models based on the different CubiX platforms. He is coauthor of several peer review publications and participated in several national and international conferences.

Giulia Antonioli is responsible for the Administrative and Financial department at Cherry Biotech. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil in 2015. She joined Cherry Biotech in 2019 and previously worked in an alternative asset management company in Brazil for over three years.

Chloe Porcier joined Cherry Biotech in September 2022 as HR Manager. She has a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) with a specialization in Human Resources. Before joining Cherry Biotech, she worked for 10 years for a large French company in the Insurance, Banking and Assistance industries. She had various HR positions, sometimes in big entities but also in small ones, most of the time with an international exposure.
Dr. Antoni Homs-Corbera is a microfluidics, MPS and nanotechnology pioneer holding 5 patents, with more than 20 years of biomedical engineering and interdisciplinary research experience carried out across the world in industry and academia. In the past, he has contributed to dissemination as university lecturer and with 5 invited speeches in scientific congresses, more than 50 congress articles and more than 30 peer-reviewed magazine articles. He joined Cherry Biotech in 2017 and became CTO and partner at the end of 2018 to lead the development and commercialization of high performance, precise and user-friendly instruments, and novel biological models to offer an alternative to animal models, by combining new microfluidic technology, artificial intelligence, bioengineering and the most advanced imaging techniques.
Dr. Jérémy Cramer started his professional career in 2003 in the automotive industry. Entrepreneur since his youth, and engineer by training, he completed a PhD thesis in 2012 combining microfluidic instrumentation and biomedical research. He founded Cherry Biotech in 2014, based on the conviction that his team could solve one of the biggest challenges of the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry, improve the prediction of toxicological effects on the human body and replace animal testing, by combining organ on chip, multiOmic and machine learning technologies.

Dr. Gerhard Holst, Senior Imaging Product & Application Scientist, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. Gerhard Holst graduated at the Technical University Aachen, Germany, with a Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1991 (Information Technology) and went on to complete his Doctorate at the University of Dortmund in collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institute for Systemphysiology in Dortmund, Germany from 1991 – 1994. Mr. Holst furthered his research as member of the Microsensor Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany from 1994 – 2001. From 2001 – 2021 he was head of the research & science department at PCO AG, where he was responsible for new technologies, all research and sensor projects, like the development of sCMOS image sensors. Since the acquisition by Excelitas in 2021 Mr. Holst is responsible for ongoing research grants and product manager.

Lucas Hopf, Development Engineer, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany.
Lucas Hop has studied physics for bachelor’s degree at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) from October 2017 until August 2020. He then followed studying physics for the master’s degree with a focus on nuclear and particle physics also at the TUM until January 2023. Since April 2023 he is working as a development engineer at Excelitas PCO GmbH.

Peter Rappl, Manager Quality Assurance & Test Field, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim Germany. 

Peter Rappl graduated as electrical engineer in 1994 but already joined PCO AG in 1992 as design engineer for electronics, thermal management and electro optical test equipment construction. Since 1995 he is digital image sensor specialist and took over responsibility of the Quality Assurance group of PCO in 2018.

Thomas Öller, Product Development – Quality Assurance, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. From May 2011 to February 2015 Thomas Öller studied physics for his bachelor’s degree at the University of Regensburg and continued for the master’s degree with a focus on ferromagnetic resonance and spin currents at the same university until March 2018. Since May 2019 he is working as a development engineer in the quality assurance team at Excelitas PCO GmbH.

Tina Äpler, Quality Assurance Engineer, Excelitas PCO GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. Tina Äpler studied Sensor Technology and Analytics from 2017 to 2022 and joined the Quality Assurance team of Excelitas PCO in February 2023.

Jan Schulte am Esch is Professor for General and Visceral Surgery – liver and tumor biology – in the Medical Faculty at Bielefeld University. Since 2016, he is Chief of Surgery and Director of the Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery at the Protestant Hospital Bethel (EvKB) in Bielefeld. His clinical focus includes oncological general and visceral surgery, robotic visceral surgery, and benign and malignant diseases of the liver and pancreas.

Annika Kiel is a postdoctoral researcher in the Medical Faculty at Bielefeld University. She obtained her Ph.D. in biology from the Biology Faculty at Bielefeld University in 2023. She is developing protocols for the isolation of living liver sinusoidal endothelial cells from liver biopsies and is working on methods to maintain cells and liver sections over extended periods of time.

Bartlomiej Zapotoczny is an adjunct at Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, where he works with atomic force microscopy on living LSEC since 2019. He is the Lead of Work Package 7 – an additional work package connected with HopOn Facility WIDERA program. His interests are connected with nanomechanical aspects of LSEC and their environment.
Malgorzata Lekka is Full Professor in the Department of Biophysical Microstructures at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Science (IFJ PAN, Kraków, Poland). In 1998, she obtained the Ph.D. in physics (specialization: biophysics) with the PhD thesis focused on AFM-based elasticity of cancerous cells. Her research is mainly focused on biomechanical properties of cells and tissues as indicators of various pathologies and processes.