2022 Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award to Wei Wei
Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award by the Swiss 3R Competence Center to Wei Wei and coworkers for paper "3D in vitro blood-brain-barrier model for investigating barrier insults" in Advanced Science.
The external page 2022 Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award by the Swiss 3R Competence Center (external page 3RCC) has been awarded to Wei Wei and coworkers for their work on creating a three-dimensional model of the brain’s protective wall, the blood-brain-barrier, that allows for investigating what happens when the barrier is affected (paper "3D in vitro blood-brain-barrier model for investigating barrier insults" in Advanced Science). The developed model does not rely on the use of animals, but instead makes use of human brain cells - cerebral endothelial cells and human primary pericytes and astrocytes – to create a model that recapitulates the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). The human BBB is different from that of other species and the awarded in vitro model represents a significant advancement in replicating human physiological processes and offering an alternative to animal models.
Furthermore, the functionality of this BBB model can be monitored in real time through an impedance-based sensor system with transparent electrodes and high-resolution imaging to monitor the integrity of the barrier. The system can be operated without pumps, and multiple experiments can be run in parallel, speeding up the research process. With this system, it is possible to study how the BBB responds to a reduced blood flow, like for example in a stroke, with unprecedent sensitivity and resolution, and without the use of animals.
The external page Swiss 3RCC presents two 3R prizes for work conducted in Switzerland each year - the Swiss 3RCC's 3Rs Award and the Young 3Rs Investigator Award. The Young 3Rs Investigator Award, worth CHF 1000, is granted to researchers who have made significant contributions to the 3Rs principle in the early stages of their careers.