We have a wide variety of student assigments. Please read and apply! You may get in touch with the person who is listed as a contact next to the assignment.
Cervical cancer is a significant global health issue, with low early screening participation leading to high mortality rates. Our project aims to develop a precise protocol for early detection of cervical cancer-associated methylation markers, utilizing CpG islands, isothermal DNA amplification, and CRISPR-Cas12a for signal generation. This integrated approach holds potential for clinical and point-of-care diagnostics, addressing a pressing need for early diagnosis and monitoring.
Contact person: Ahsan Ismail (a.ismail@utwente.nl)
Organs-on-chips are used to replicate the human physiology in vitro. Hydrogels are promising materials in this field since they mimic the mechanical and chemical properties of soft tissues. In this project, you will fabricate channels inside a hydrogel using soft-lithography. These channels will then be used to model a blood-brain barrier (BBB)-on-chip.
Contact person: Muriel Holzreuter (m.a.holzreuter@utwente.nl)
Patients with chronic kidney disease are dependent on dialysis treatment to stay alive. However, conventional dialysis is insufficient in removing all toxins. A bio-artificial-kidney (BAK) containing renal tubule cells can assist in better clearance of toxins that are not secreted during conventional dialysis. In this project you will develop a flat-membrane approach to the BAK.
Contact person: Jeroen Vollenbroek (j.c.vollenbroek@utwente.nl)
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with biomolecules, have numerous applications, including the preparation of ordered nanoparticle structures, biosensing, and gene/drug delivery. However, traditionally the synthesis of DNA-coated-AuNPs is a long, tedious and inefficient process. In this assignment, you will work on a method to tune DNA density on AuNPs, while being much faster than traditional methods.
Contact person: Nienke van Dongen (j.e.vandongen@utwente.nl)
Deregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been implicated as new potential biomarkers. However, miRNAs with length differences of only a single nucleotide (isomiRs) have different clinical relevance. Current techniques available in the clinic can’t discriminate between these length differences. In this assignment, you will develop a novel tool for isomiR discrimination combining CRISPR/Cas13a with strand displacement.
Contact person: Nienke van Dongen (j.e.vandongen@utwente.nl)
In the last decade, cancer-biomarker research has been focusing on biomarkers representing epigenetic alterations associated with the development of cancer. One such event is DNA-(hyper)methylation. Raman spectroscopy has previously been shown to distinguish between methylated and nonmethylated cytosine. This assignment will focus on on-chip distinguishing hmDNA from normal genomic DNA via (surface enhanced) Raman spectroscopy.
Contact person: Nienke van Dongen (j.e.vandongen@utwente.nl)
LiGalli and BIOS are collaborating on a project for an intra-vaginal Medring system for diagnostic purposes. A schematic representation of the ring is shown in Fig.1. For this project you will work on the microfluidic side of the chip. You will be responsible for making a proof-of-concept microfluidic chip connecting several functionalities of the chip.
Contact person: Jasper Lozeman (j.j.a.lozeman@utwente.nl)
There is an urgent need to use advanced human-based in vitro models that mimic the adult human heart in vitro. Currently, we have a platform that allows to make 3D cardiac tissues in a 12-well plate format. By using this platform we aim to improve the cardiac performance and evaluate the effect of mechanical stimulation.
Contact person: José Manuel Rivera A. j.m.riveraarbelaez@utwente.nl
We are working on the development of a most representative model of the human heart. Currently, we have a platform that allows to make 3D cardiac tissues in vitro. By using this platform we aim to improve the cardiac performance and evaluate the effect of continuous electrical stimulation.
Contact person: José Manuel Rivera A. j.m.riveraarbelaez@utwente.nl
The goal of this master's project is to develop a machine learning model that can predict the antimicrobial properties of peptides based on their amino-acid sequence. Antimicrobial peptides are a promising class of substances for combating antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and their versatility and efficiency make them an attractive option.
Contact person: Sergii Pud (s.pud@utwente.nl)
We are developing a novel method to interrogate proteins and their behavior, through electrical manipulation of a single protein molecule on-chip. The heart of our approach is trapping and actuation the single protein molecule by means of dielectrophoresis. We need your help to optimize our protein traps by means of simulation and modelling
Contact: Sergii Pud(s.pud@utwente.nl)