Dr Sandrine Willaime-Morawek

Associate Professor in Stem Cells and Neurobiology

Research Interests

neural stem cells, disease modelling, 3D cultures, neurodegenerative diseases

We develop a neural tissue microphysiological system, to model neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative diseases, or brain injury and brain tumour models. Our 3D culture are heterogeneous cultures of neurons and glia, recapitulating differentiation and maturation of neural tissue and modelling some aspects of neurodegenerative diseases. We are also exploring micro/millifluidic culture of these cells. We focus on aspects of tau biology and synaptic function to generate a gold standard for these disease-related parameters in living adult human neurons. Moreover, we compare and contrast aspects of the structure and function of iPSC-derived neurons grown in 2D and 3D culture, with those of human resected tissue, to see if they faithfully recapitulate those of adult neurons in human brain.

Collaboration Interests

microfluidic/millifluidic system for our 3D cultures
on chip monitoring and analysis