A long-standing trend in pharmaceutical development, toxicology and biomedicine has been the establishment of complex three-dimensional (3D) multicellular spheroids. These organ-like structures resemble the physiological functions of human tissues. To meet the growing need to improve the predictive power of preclinical studies, multicellular spheroids integrated into a biochip builds on the advancement of the so-called organ-on-a-chip technology that establishes, cultivates and tests a wide variety of clinical-relevant drugs in a high-throughput manner.

Goals:
- Design and development of a microfluidic system to produce multicellular spheroids under physiological conditions in cooperation with the Technical University Vienna.
- Surface modification of microfluidic channels by coating with S-layer protein SbpA that acts as a suitable support for spheroid formation (Susana Moreno-Flores and Seta Küpcü. Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 1259).
- High-throughput screening of combinatorial anti-cancer drug candidates off- and on-chip.

Methods:
- Mammalian cell culture techniques
- S‐layer technology
- Micro fabrication of biochips (rapid prototyping)
- Toxicity screening, fluorescence microscopy, immunohistochemistry, live-cell imaging

Requirements: Practical experience in mammalian cell culture and microscopy, dedicated to work in an international team.
Start: Autumn 2018
Duration: 6-9 months