Bespoke Artificial Cells and Tissues for Drug Discovery

Fellow lecture by

Katherine Elvira
Senior Fellow 2023–2024

Informations

This is a public event. Participation is free of charge and registration is not required.

The lecture is followed by a small reception with drinks and snacks.

Cells are complex and it is not always possible to know what effect each component of the cell has on drug transport. The goal of Katherine Elvira’s research is to use microfluidic technologies to build bespoke artificial cells and tissues from the bottom up, starting with the cell membrane. This allows to quantify how each component of the cell membrane affects the movement of drugs into cells. Her research uses these artificial cells to mimic how an orally administered drug moves from the intestine into an intestinal cell, and then from the cell into the blood stream, and to mimic how the cell membrane changes during cancer. These new in vitro models will hopefully help predict the behaviour of drugs in vivo.