At Evidencio, I write technical files, e.g. risk management, and perform clinical evaluation for algorithms derived from clinical research to certify them as software as medical devices (SaMDs) that aid in decision making in healthcare.

The main aim of this PhD project, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. D. Stamatialis and Dr. A. Poot, was to develop a new kind of membrane which is made of a material that is more suitable for cell culturing and transplantation. Furthermore, the membranes made in this project can contain microstructures which resemble the alveoli. This better mimics the situation in the human lung and thus should improve reliability of the cell behaviour and the results of the chip. In this project, I learned to synthesise a polymer, process it to a porous membrane, prepare polymer moulds to include microstructures in the membranes, as well as culture cells on the membranes to create a lung-blood barrier model. Moreover, I determined both characteristics of the membranes and the cells, and integrated the model into organs-on-chips from Micronit B.V. This PhD project is part of a larger consortium of Dutch universities and university medical centres. It is funded by Het Longfonds. The main objective of the consortium was to develop microengineered 3D analogues of alveolar tissue for lung regeneration.

In this temporary project, in collaboration with Dr. Iris Allijn, I culture and stimulate macrophages and help design a microfluidic system with optical sensors to continuously measure cytokine levels of the macrophages. Besides, I learn to perform ELISA-assays as a reference for our new system.

The temporary position as junior researcher was under the supervision of Dr. Menno de Jong. Nano Fiber Matrices B.V. was specialized in developing synthetic materials, called Articyt, which could serve as replacements for extracellular matrices. These products could be used for coatings and gels for the culturing of cells in both 2D and 3D. I tested cyst formation of different cell lines in 2D and 3D configurations of Articyt products and cultured cell lines in low serum and serum free conditions in the presence or absence of serum replacements.