On Friday, September 22, 2023, our Institute for Microsystems Technology at the Technical University of Hamburg, represented by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hoc Khiem Trieu and Daybith Venegas-Rojas, in collaboration with the Center for Experimental Medicine, Institute for Biochemistry and Signal Transduction at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, represented by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Manfred Jücker, awarded the Michael Zajadacz Prize 2023.

The award was given to research and development work on the topic of “tumor-on-a-chip.” The Michael Zajadacz Prize 2023 from the Adalbert Zajadacz Foundation comes with a grant of 20,000 euros.

Tumor-on-a-chip: an efficient tool for cancer research

Tumoroids, which are cultivated in a microfluidic chip under physiologically similar conditions, serve as a model for the investigation of cancer drugs. Classic 2D cell cultures behave differently than in reality. Tumoroids are 3D cell cultures and behave more like cancer tissue in a living state. The solution here is a microfluidic chip with a continuous supply of nutrients and stable growth conditions as a bioreactor for the tumoroids. Tumor-on-a-chip was created after intensive research and optimization and allows tumoroids to grow reliably in vitro, enables exponential growth of cancer tissue under controlled perfusion with nutrients and demonstrates exponential shrinkage of cancer tissue when an anticancer drug is administered.

Tumor-on-a-chip is an interdisciplinary project of the Technical University of Hamburg and the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf.

About the Michael Zajadacz Prize

The Adalbert Zajadacz Foundation supports projects in a variety of ways, not only in the electrical trade, but also in the areas of education, training and training. Since 2021, the Michael Zajadacz Prize has been awarded every two years for outstanding achievements in various subject areas.