Events

Andreas Bausch, Ph.D.

Technical University of Munich, Germany

Prof. Bausch holds currently the Chair of Cellular Biophysics and is the Founding Director of the Center of Protein Assemblies at the Technical University of Munich. Since 2022 he has been founding director of the Center of Organoid Systems and Tissue Engineering at the TUM. After studying physics at TUM and the Université de Montréal, he received his doctorate at TUM (1999). An Emmy Noether scholarship enabled him to study at Harvard University under Prof. D. Weitz. After receiving many invitations from around the world, Prof. Bausch accepted the Chair of Cellular Biophysics at TUM in 2008. He had a visiting Miller Professor Appointment at the University of California, Berkeley (2015) and since 2021 he is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. His work targets a quantitative understanding of the mechanical properties of the cytoskeleton, and the microscopic mechanisms of self-organization on the molecular as well on the organoid scale, to which end he developed a range of active matter systems.

Mina Gouti, Ph.D.

Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany

Dr. Mina Gouti is a group leader at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, where she works at the interface of developmental biology, stem cell research, and organoid technologies. She earned her Master's degree in Molecular Medicine from Imperial College London and later obtained her PhD in Stem Cells and Developmental Biology from the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens under the guidance of Dr. A. Gavalas. During her postdoctoral research at the Francis Crick Institute in James Briscoe's lab, Dr. Gouti developed an innovative method for the in vitro generation of neuromesodermal progenitors from pluripotent stem cells. Building on this foundational work, her lab has pioneered the generation of 3D human neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) from human pluripotent stem cell-derived neuromesodermal progenitor cells. This groundbreaking achievement represents the first human organoid model where all the components of a functional neuromuscular junction are generated in 3D. Her contributions to the scientific community have been recognized through numerous accolades, including being named an EMBO Young Investigator and receiving prestigious grants such as the ERC Consolidator Grant and an ERC Proof of Concept grant.

Ryuji Morizane, MD, Ph.D.

Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Dr. Ryuji Morizane, a physician-scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, specializes in renal research, particularly focusing on translational studies using human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for kidney diseases and drug discovery. His pioneering work since 2007 in pluripotent stem cell research led to the development of protocols for inducing kidney lineage cells and generating nephron progenitor cells and kidney organoids from hPSCs with remarkable efficiency. Notably, Dr. Morizane's innovative approach involves combining organoid and bioengineering technology to create kidney organoids with vascular structures, representing a significant advancement in renal research. This groundbreaking research promises new insights into kidney development and disease pathogenesis, earning him the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in 2019 and establishing him as a leading expert in the field.