Jay Samal
PhD student
Project description
Recapitulating kidney function in vitro by re-engineering kidney organoids Although kidney organoids have been extensively applied for studying development of both normal and diseased states of the human kidney, most current kidney organoid models do not completely recapitulate kidney functions in vitro, with generation of higher order structures involving multiple parts of native kidney, off-target differentiation and organoid maturation being major challenges. The project will involve re-engineering kidney organoids with an aim to improve the function of current kidney models. Recapitulating kidney function in vitro can allow for the development of improved physiologically relevant models for further application to study drug testing and toxicology, disease mechanisms, development processes, and eventually for fabrication of constructs for regenerative medicine. We aim to achieve this by utilizing novel organoid micromanipulation techniques as a means of improving organoid maturation and development of compartments missing from current kidney organoid models.