BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//talks.cam.ac.uk//v3//EN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:19700329T010000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:19701025T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CATEGORIES:Cambridge Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Seminars
SUMMARY:In vitro bioelectronic models of the gut-brain axi
 s - Professor Róisín Owens\, Department of Chemica
 l Engineering &amp\; Biotechnology
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20211019T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20211019T170000
UID:TALK162025AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/162025
DESCRIPTION:*Theme: Brains and Machines*\n\nTile: _In vitro_ b
 ioelectronic models of the gut-brain axis\n\nAbstr
 act: The human gut microbiome has emerged as a key
  player in the bidirectional communication of the 
 gut-brain axis\, affecting various aspects of home
 ostasis and pathophysiology. Until recently\, the 
 majority of studies that seek to explore the mecha
 nisms underlying the microbiome-gut-brain axis cro
 ss-talk relied almost exclusively on animal models
 \, and particularly gnotobiotic mice. Despite the 
 great progress made with these models\, various li
 mitations\, including ethical considerations and i
 nterspecies differences that limit the translatabi
 lity of data to human systems\, pushed researchers
  to seek for alternatives. Over the past decades\,
  the field of in vitro modelling of tissues has ex
 perienced tremendous growth\, thanks to advances i
 n 3D cell biology\, materials\, science and bioeng
 ineering\, pushing further the borders of our abil
 ity to more faithfully emulate the in vivo situati
 on. Organ-on-chip technology and bioengineered tis
 sues have emerged as highly promising alternatives
  to animal models for a wide range of applications
 .  In this talk I’ll discuss our progress towards 
 generating a complete platform of the human microb
 iota-gut-brain axis with integrated monitoring and
  sensing capabilities. Bringing together principle
 s of materials science\, tissue engineering\, 3D c
 ell biology and bioelectronics\, we are building a
 dvanced models of the GI and the BBB/NVU\, with re
 al-time and label-free monitoring units adapted in
  the model architecture\, towards a robust and mor
 e physiologically relevant human in vitro model\, 
 aiming to i) elucidate the role of microbiota in t
 he gut-brain axis communication\, ii) to study how
  diet and impaired microbiota profiles affect vari
 ous (patho-)physiologies\, and iii) to test person
 alised medicine approaches for disease modelling a
 nd drug testing.\n\nBiography: Professor Róisín M.
  Owens is a Multidisciplinary Scientist working at
  the interface of Biology and Electronic Engineeri
 ng.\n\nProfessor Róisín M. Owens is a University L
 ecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering 
 and Biotechnology in the University of Cambridge. 
 She received her BA in Natural Sciences (Mod. Bioc
 hemistry) at Trinity College Dublin\, and her PhD 
 in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Southampt
 on University. She carried out two postdoc fellows
 hips at Cornell University\, on host-pathogen inte
 ractions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the depa
 rtment of Microbiology and Immunology with Prof Da
 vid Russell\, and on rhinovirus therapeutics in th
 e department of Biomedical Engineering with Profes
 sor Moonsoo Jin. From 2009-2017 Professor Owens wa
 s a group leader in the department of bioelectroni
 cs at Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne\, on the micr
 oelectronics campus in Provence. She is author of 
 over 70 articles and a 2019 laureate of the Suffra
 ge Science Award. Her work has been covered on man
 y news outlets\, including the BBC who featured he
 r “human organs on chip” https://www.youtube.com/w
 atch?v=99s1K0Ph3g4.\n\nResearch Interests\nHer cur
 rent research centres on application of electronic
  materials for monitoring biological systems in vi
 tro\, with a specific interest in studying the gut
 -brain-microbiome axis. Her work on 3D biomimetic 
 electrodes for hosting and monitoring human tissue
 s was recently published in Science Advances. (htt
 ps://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/10/eaat4253
 ) A second major research area focuses on integrat
 ion of cell membranes with transparent conducting 
 polymer electrodes to study drug and pathogen inte
 ractions. A recent publication validated the abili
 ty of novel antimicrobial molecules to penetrate m
 embranes (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/
 10.1002/adma.201803130)\n\nRegister in advance for
  this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/reg
 ister/tZUuc-ygrDkrEt0ZwuQeJ-0Yc9DPW9wBpBba\n\nAfte
 r registering\, you will receive a confirmation em
 ail containing information about joining the meeti
 ng.\n\n
LOCATION:Register on Zoom - link in abstract
CONTACT:Dr Dervila Glynn
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR