Recorded LIVE in front of an audience.. (a first for us!!) at WORD+2025!

What a line up!

Hosted by Prof Marianna and Prof Steven they are joined by an extraordinary panel of leaders in Organoid and Chip research. They are:

• Prof Hazel Screen, Head of School of Engineering & Materials Science, Queen Mary University London.
• Dr Mhairi Morrris- Senior Lecturer (Biochemistry), exercise oncology research, University of Loughborough.
• Associate Professor and company CSO Heidi Haikala- Tampere University, Uni of Helsinki and Solid IO.
• Dr Meritxell B Cutona, Head of platform, Patient-derived organoids for precision cancer medicine, Gustave Roussy.
• Dr Luana Ferrara- Head of R&D and Collaborations, Qkine Limited.
• Ms Carlotta Frascolla, Istituto Nazionale Tumori Regina Elena.

What if the most significant advancements in science come from unexpected turns and serendipitous encounters? In our special live episode from Cambridge, in honour of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we bring together an extraordinary panel of women who have carved inspiring paths in the world of research. From Heidi Haikala's groundbreaking work on overcoming lung cancer therapy resistance to Mhairi Morris's exploration of how exercise can prevent breast cancer, these remarkable scientists share their transformative journeys and the pivotal moments that shaped their careers.

Embracing the non-linear paths so often encountered in the sciences, we dive into the critical role of mentorship in building confidence and driving innovation. Our guests reveal personal stories of mentors who believed in them before they believed in themselves, emphasizing the reciprocal nature of mentorship and its profound impact on their work. With candor and authenticity, they discuss how embracing unexpected opportunities and building supportive networks can redefine career trajectories, offering invaluable lessons for those aspiring to make their mark in science.

Finally, we confront the challenges of diversity, inclusion, and bias in STEM fields. Our conversation underscores the importance of frameworks like the Athena Swan guidelines, highlights the necessity of visible female leadership, and tackles the pervasive issue of work-life balance. Through personal anecdotes and practical insights, we shed light on the biases faced by women in science and the ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive and supportive environment. Tune into this episode to be inspired by the incredible journeys of these pioneering women and their relentless pursuit of scientific excellence.

Sponsored by MDPI Organoids. Join our special edition here.

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Visit the HOME of the Podcast here: WORC.Community

Visit the HOME of the Podcast here: WORC.Community

What have organoids ever done for me?
Translating science in a dish to patient outcomes.

Special guests:
Surgeon-scientist Prof. Dr. med. Bernhard Kiss, Inselspital and
Prof. Roland Seiler-Blarer, Head of Urology at the Hospital Center in Biel.
Bios here.

Key moments:

00:01:13
Marianna has a new paper accepted in Oncogene that is on organoids.
You can enjoy also how we can measure weight and density on organoids.
Steven also has new paper on sample clean-up for drug and drug
metabolism studies for organoids.

00:02:23

Introducing our guests and why they are working with organoids: Prof. Dr. med. Bernhard Kiss, Oncology surgeon-scientist. University Hospital, Bern. Prof. Roland Seiler-Blarer, Head of Urology at the Hospital Center in Biel.

00:04:33
What do we we mean by dish science helping patients?
And do organoid responses to drugs really relate to human responses?
Are there any ways to benchmark the work?

00:09:23
How do you also run a clinical trial? How do you group patients? Do you have a control group?

00:11:33
What are the general opinions on organoid co trials? Can they really be used? Are they being used and how does it work? What is required? What re the limiting factors? How important are collaborations and communication?
Challenges of scepticism faced?

00:17:53
Validation and the quality of organoid science adopted. Differences of adopting long and short term culture organoid durations and organoid lines.

00:24:14
Reporting of all information accurately from different oncology cases. Cookbook questions?

00:27:17
We say goodbye to Roland and talk on ethics and clinical trials relating to organoids. What are the ethical concerns? Who owns the IP of of the organoid of the patient?

00:33:00
Billion dollar question Where would spend the money? Technologies, training, resources?

00:40:55
Finding information that helps.

00:43:45
Research we are excited about?

00:48:56
What’s happening until the end of the year?

00:51:39
That’s it bye everyone!

Visit the HOME of the Podcast here: WORC.Community

Visit the HOME of the Podcast here: WORC.Community

We tackle ethics, organoid intelligence and will we ever stop using animals?
Watch the video here too.

00:01:03,59: Introducing our special guest Professor Thomas Hartung from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

00:01:39,03: Marianna and Stephen talk about their extensive travels this month. Includes wonderful meeting at Yale Medical School where there's a lot of people and lots of technologies of organoids and spatial transcriptomics that are really advancing in urological research and teaching young scientists at the Xerox summer school for organ on chip systems in Tubingen.

00:05:20,59: Thomas Hartung, tells us about his background, interests and more and exciting new opportunities.

00:09:14,71: Now we talk about ethics in using organoids and organ on a chips, a very big area and a hot topic inc: Intellectual property, regulation, consent, approvals, living donors, data ownership and need for clarity, organoid intelligence and more.

00:21:17,66: We take a look at some of the reasons and meaning behind evidence based shifts to animal alternatives in research and its challenges. We then look at and discuss examples of why another can't
represent a human? Will we ever stop using research animals? And how can a simple organoid really replace a big animal? Memory, learning and cognition with organoid intelligence?

00:40:13,31: We pose the question; What do you see as the biggest obstacle science faces in adopting non animal techniques and what can be done to overcome them? Us and the next generation learning to and design our experiments in a different way using MPS tools rather than animal models. Show in a human complex in vitro system.

00:44:26,67: Demonstrating with objective data what we can get and what we can't get from animals.

00:45:20,06: I'm really loving this! The shift towards alternatives to
animals is also a part of a larger part of society and where we are in the world. We discuss the economic costs, the maths of the research and impact seen.

00:48:30,26: Quick recap on the ‘3Rs’ Reduction, Refinement, Replacement in practice.

00:50:18,78: The ethics of AI and potential consciousness of neural organised chips and organoid intelligence. What exactly is organoid intelligence? Are these terms which have meaning in everyday life, intelligence or self-awareness, consciousness relevant? When does intelligence start?

00:57:08,51: Harrison Ford in the ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Humanoids’.

01:04:35,87: Can we use brain organoids today for testing drugs or
other stimuli? Let's talk about the ethics of it.

01:14:14,38: Wrap up, The Beatles, conferences coming up, beer, guitar and pizza.

Visit the HOME of the Podcast here: WORC.Community