"his is a PhD research project that integrates engineering/Physics/chemistry/biology to develop new biophysical tools to interrogate organoids in a reproducible and 'high throughput' manner. This will enable the screening of cardio relevant small compound libraries and personalised drug discovery. Cardio -spheroids (CS) are bioengineered human heart-like organoids and are emerging as powerful tools in drug discovery. These organoids are 500 'balls' of human cardiomyocytes that beat with a similar frequency to the human heart rhythm (60-70 BPM). Their electrical activity is strikingly similar to the human ECG. Drug discovery companies are producing a large number of cell lines, however, it is not clear whether these organoids will be useful in the drug discovery process, transplantation or safety testing. The size and material properties of the CSs render them unsuitable for use in conventional electrophysiological microelectrode arrays (one organoid/64 electrode array). The PhD project would involve, collaborating with Censo Technologies Ltd in standardizing the production of these organoids, developing trapping technologies that allow the flexible electrical measurement to be carried out on a large scale (custom multielectrode arrays), characterising the cell lines electrophysiologically and developing standard protocols and devices for upscaling the process.
Training will be given in cell programming, cell culture, library and compound selection, electrophysiology (multi-electrode arrays and voltage clamp), imaging and signal processing.
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