3D Cell-Based Assays and Organ-on-Chip Systems for Drug Discovery and Safety

Additional Fees Apply

 -- visit the Short Course Program section for more information.

Cell-based in vitro assays are used throughout the drug discovery and development chain, allowing for high throughput efficacy but also mechanistic-based toxicity testing. A big challenge however is the translation of in vitro assays towards the in vivo outcome. Physiological relevance is a key parameter to improve the predictive power of cell-based assays. The better we can reflect tissue architecture, composition and function the more predictive an in vitro assay will become. This course covers advances in 3D cell culture technologies, assays and their use in drug discovery and development. Organ-on-chip devices and 3D bioprinting round off the curriculum. 

Who Should Attend:

Industry and academic scientists with mid- to advanced-level experience in cell-based assays or cell biology wishing to get a concise overview about technologies, advantages, cost and application examples of 3D cell-based assays and organ-on-chip devices.

How You Will Benefit From This Course:

• Guidelines how to develop 3D cell-based assays.


• Guidelines how to use 3D models for phenotypic drug discovery


• State of the art overview about current methods in the rapidly evolving field of 3D cell-based assays.


• Solid starting point for participants interested in introducing 3D cell-based assays in their organization.


• Gaining expertise to use advanced cell culture models for drug discovery and drug development

Course Topics:

• In-depth overview of 3D cell culture technologies and models: Comparison of the most important methods for 3D cell culture including scaffold-free, hydrogel, bioprinting and multi-organ devices; implementation strategies, automation, and work flows; comparison of advantages, disadvantages and cost.


• How to choose and adapt fit-for-purpose assays and readouts for 3D cell culture models: Using and optimizing existing biochemical assays; applying imaging technology and high-content analysis for more biological insights; histology and immune histochemistry; use of machine-learning techniques to quantify imaging data


• Case studies for the use of 3D models in drug discovery: 3D tumor models; co-culture systems; applications in screening of large libraries; target validation, 3D-based phenotypic drug discovery


• Case studies for the use of multi-organ-on-chip systems: Systemic microfluidic interaction of organ models derived either from primary cell sources or stem cells and their use for disease modelling, such as the metabolic syndrome, as well as safety testing including inflammation-mediated toxicology.