FREE organoid and organ-on-chip TRAINING and TICKETS at WORD+2025!

We are excited to announce these latest organoid and organ-on-a-chip partnerships for training and publishing.

WORC.Community, the founders of WORD+2025, QMUL Centre for Predictive in vitro Models and the University of Bern are excited to announce a new Organoid and Organ-on-a-chip training partnership on day three of WORD+2025. The training is a series of interactive lectures in the main auditorium. You’ll learn about the latest techniques and key methods employed at both universities. In addition, there will also be demonstrations from key technologies used in their workflows.

• TRAINING is provided FREE for all early career professionals at WORD+2025.
• There are also a number of FREE places at the WORD+2025 main meeting too.

ALL WORD+2025 attendees now benefit from:

• 100% FREE Open Access paper publishing with MDPI
• £1,000 prize draw awarded to one lucky delegate’s lab on the day!
• Access to selected WORD+ recorded presentations.
• Speakers and poster presenters featured in a special MDPI Organoids issue

WORD+2025

Has become one of the leading events for both Organoid & Organ-on-a-chip Researchers. It will be held at Hinxton Hall, Wellcome Genome Campus, near Cambridge in the UK: 11th to 13th February 2025. A limited number of tickets to the event and the training day are available (400 appx attendees, >30 leading researcher talks, 35 innovative technology booths).

The final Organoid and Organ-on-a-chip research presentations are now detailed in the agenda. Key areas include Oncology, Regenerative Medicine, Gut and Microbiome, Organoid Intelligence, Pre and post-natal organoid and chip applications in Paediatrics and showcases with GSK and AstraZeneca on Commercial Drug Discovery. There are also Academic Showcases from Universities of Oxford, KU Leuven, Oslo and QMUL. The closing presentation focusses on the importance of organ connection for comprehensive understanding of mechanism in disease.

• A limited number of FREE TICKETS for Early Career (less than 5 years since graduation),
• 2 for 1 tickets and other offers are available.
• Poster submissions are now open. Agenda and more here.

More on training:

The QMUL Centre for Predictive in vitro Models.

The Organ-on-a-chip training session will be led by Dr Stefaan Verbruggen, from the QMUL Centre for Predictive in vitro Models a World-Leading Centre for Predictive in vitro Model Research, Training and Translation. QMUL has been rated by Ofsted who assessed their education across all categories for our apprenticeship provision as Outstanding. They are one of only eight universities in the U.K to receive this top rating. Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro Models provides a beacon of multidisciplinary research, training, and translation focusing on the development and use of predictive in vitro models. This incorporates a wide range of model systems including 2D and 3D cell culture models, organoids, micro-physiological systems, organ-on-a-chip technology, non-animal methods and other types of in vitro model. The QMUL has recently established the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Organ-on-a-Chip Technology (COaCT). COaCT brings together industry and other stakeholders, working with Queen Mary’s world leading scientists and bioengineers to train PhD students in this rapidly expanding field.

‘Our vision is to facilitate the implementation of innovative in vitro models for highest quality discovery science and to accelerate delivery of safe and effective therapeutics for the benefit of wider society. We are excited to be joining WORD+2025 and be able to provide an informative interactive introduction to the organ-on-a-chip techniques and technologies employed at our research centre’. Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro Models.

The University of Bern

The organoid training is led by Professor Marianna Kruithof-de Julio, a leading researcher at the University of Bern, dedicated to advancing precision medicine in the field of urology. She heads the Urology Research Laboratory and oversees the Organoid CORE facility. Her primary focus is developing and utilizing cutting-edge tools that contribute to precision medicine. Professor Kruithof-de Julio’s research team has successfully created patient-derived organoids for bladder, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. Additionally, her team employs microvascular on-chip chambers, which allow for the study of single-cell functional potential.  Professor Kruithof-de Julio will be joined by Dr Marta De Menna, the Deputy Director of the Organoid Core and Assistant Prof Dr Sofia Karkampouna whose research is focused on renal cell carcinoma in particular focusing on therapy resistance mechanisms to receptor kinase inhibitors using patient-derived organoids. Both work at the University of Bern in The Urology Research Laboratory and are affiliated with the Department of Urology of the Inselspital in Bern.

Their holistic approach to cancer research sets Professor Kruithof-de Julio’s research group apart. They investigate various aspects of cancer, including tumor cells, stroma, immune cells, and the vasculature. By studying these different components together, they comprehensively understand cancer and its progression. One of the main objectives of Professor Kruithof-de Julio’s team is to develop tools that can address significant clinical challenges. By taking a multidisciplinary approach, they aim to uncover the mechanisms behind metastasis and ultimately find ways to control and predict cancer progression.

‘The driving force behind our work is our motivation to translate research findings into practical applications to benefit patients. We strive to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, ensuring that our work has a meaningful and effective impact on cancer patients’. Professor Kruithof-de Julio.

FREE Open Access Publishing with MDPI Organoids

All WORD+2025 attendees and WORC.Community members now benefit from FREE Open Access Publishing with the journal MDPI Organoids. WORD+ Speaker and poster presenters will also feature in a special MDPI Organoids issue. Read more and see the journal’s distinguished editorial board here.

‘I’m so proud to be part of WORD+ It is a wonderful opportunity to engage with leading researchers and see the latest technologies helping organoid and organ-on-a-chip research. It has rapidly become a very special community indeed’.

–Miles Rackliff, Founder and Conference Director, WORD+2025.