Title: Engineered immune-competent models of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma using patient-derived hepatocyte organoids and biomaterials
Start and end date: 16/02/2026 to 17/04/2026
I am Ana Margarida Carvalho, a PhD student at i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, and ICBAS Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (Universidade do Porto, Portugal), where I am working on an immune-competent in vitro model of chronic liver disease based on biomaterials and hepatic cells. Through a Short-Term Scientific Mission from the IMMUNO-model COST action, I joined the University Medical Center Groningen (the Netherlands) to work with patient-derived human liver organoids aiming at increasing the physiological relevance of my in vitro disease model. It was an extraordinary opportunity, both on personal and professional levels! I am very grateful to the IMMUNO-model COST action for supporting this research stay.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/margaridafcarv
X: @margaridafcarv
Figures and tables of some experimental results were presented in the STSM scientific report.
The experimental protocols used in this STSM have been previously published [1,2]; no new protocols were developed during the course of this STSM. Nevertheless, if required by the Grant Awarding Coordinator, I may submit the protocols for the IMMUNO-model Knowledge Hub.
References:
[1] Broutier, L., et al., Culture and establishment of self-renewing human and mouse adult liver and pancreas 3D organoids and their genetic manipulation. Nature Protocols, 2016. 11(9): p. 1724–1743.
[2] Huch, M., et al., Long-Term Culture of Genome-Stable Bipotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Liver. Cell, 2015. 160(1): p. 299–312.