PhD Defence Tarek Gensheimer | Retina-on-chip with local oxygen sensing

Retina-on-chip with local oxygen sensing

Tarek Gensheimer is a PhD student in the department Applied Stem Cell Technologies. (Co)Promotors are prof.dr. A. van der Meer and prof.dr. P.C.J.J. Passier from the faculty Science & Technology, University of Twente.

Over hundreds of millions of people are affected by visual impairment, with most cases linked to pathophysiological changes associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The underlying disease mechanisms remain poorly understood, leading to a limited availability of effective treatments. To develop novel treatments for AMD and other retinal diseases, these disease mechanisms need to be investigated. Retina-on-chip models can be helpful for such investigations by providing more physiologically relevant and accessible retinal models compared to animal models, ex vivo models, and conventional cell culture models. In this thesis, we have developed a novel Retina-on-Chip model that shows a pathophysiological response to retinal disease-relevant stimulation.