We are excited to open today’s program with a plenary lecture by one of Europe’s most influential pioneers in microphysiological systems: Prof. Dr. Andries van der Meer. As a Professor of Microphysiological Systems at the University of Twente, Prof. van der Meer is at the forefront of Organ-on-Chip innovation, leading efforts to replicate human physiology on microchips — focusing on the integration and perfusion of blood vessels. Join us from 8:30 to 9:15 AM CEST as Prof. van der Meer shares his vision for next-generation organ models, standardization, and the translation of chip-based platforms into real-world biomedical solutions.
Biography
Prof. Dr. Andries van der Meer is a Professor of Microphysiological Systems and a Principal Investigator in the Bioengineering Technologies department at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. He leads a research group in which he develops Organs-on-Chips, focusing on the functional integration of blood vessels in these systems, including their dynamic perfusion with human blood. He is also a Scientific Lead of the university’s Organ-on-Chip Centre Twente, the former Chair of the Consortium Assembly of the Dutch National Institute for Human Organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT), and the elected president of the European Organ-on-Chip Society (EUROoCS). He also chaired the Focus Group on Standardization for Organ-on-Chip of the European standardization bodies CEN and CENELEC.
Before joining the University of Twente in 2015, Dr. Van der Meer worked as a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. He has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (University of Twente, 2010), and an MSc in Biomedical Science (University of Groningen, 2005).