2024 Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award to Manon Murdeu
Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award by the Swiss 3R Competence Center to Manon Murdeu for her work on "Human-based placenta-embryo chip for developmental toxicity assessment of drugs, chemicals and nanoparticles."
The external page 2024 Swiss 3Rs Young Investigator Award by the Swiss 3R Competence Center (external page 3RCC) has been awarded to Manon Murdeu for her work on developing a "Human-based placenta-embryo chip for developmental toxicity assessment of drugs, chemicals and nanoparticles." The developed chip system does not rely on the use of animals, but instead makes use of human cell material, which is of high importance, as the the human placenta is very different from that of other species. Therefore, the awarded in vitro model system represents a significant advancement in replicating human physiological processes and offering an alternative to animal models. The model system contributes to filling a significant gap in the evaluation of toxicikinetics and toxicodynamics during pregnancy.
Manon Murdeu works in the external page Particles @ Barriers laboratory at EMPA in Sankt Gallen, headed by external page Dr. Tina Bürki Thurnherr, and is a PhD student of BSSE co-tutored by Julia Boos and the BEL group. She does technological work at BEL, while the biological and placenta work is done in St. Gallen.
The external page Swiss 3RCC presents 3R prizes for work conducted in Switzerland each year - the Swiss 3RCC's 3Rs Award and the Young 3Rs Investigator Awards. The Young 3Rs Investigator Awards, worth CHF 2500, are granted to researchers, who have made significant contributions to the 3Rs principle in the early stages of their careers.
external page Link to group at EMPA
Link to movie on Youtube