Cellsystemics | public-private partnership

Cellsystemics is a platform for characterisation of cellular system dynamics for tissue disease stageing and programming for repair. The project, funded under the Human Measurement Models programme, aims to gain quantitative insight into the complex interrelationships between biomechanical, biochemical and mechanobiological mechanisms underlying vascular tissue diseases, where the interaction between smooth muscle cells and the surrounding tissue network is disrupted. Think of arteriosclerosis and aneurysm formation. The Cellsystemics project is part of the Human Measurement Models research programme, which is funded by Samenwerkende Gezondheidsfondsen (SGF), Health Holland, NWO and ZonMW. The ambition of this programme is to accelerate the Transition to Animal-free Innovation (TPI), of which SGF is a partner, among others. The initiator and coordinator of Cellsystemics is Koen Reesink, Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the CARIM research school for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht UMC. The project includes two more departments of CARIM, namely Cardiothoracic Surgery and Biochemistry. The TU/e participates as academic partner through the Department of Control Systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Further consortium partners are : - Optics11 Life (indendation equipment) - Confocal.NL (confocal imaging) - HCM Medical (technology to extract cells from tissue and return that tissue freely intact) - BioSPX (user perspective, imaging and software) - STEMCELL Technologies (media for cell culture) - Contact group Marfan Nederland, the Dutch patient association for connective tissue diseases, and in particular the genetic disorders.