Three of our NOCI members won the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge and were awarded € 25,000

Last week, three of our NOCI members, Milica Dostanic (LUMC/TUD), Dennis Nahon (LUMC), and Reneé Moerkens (UMCG), together with Isabel Sariol (Leiden Institute of Chemistry), won the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge and were awarded € 25,000. Their team, HeartSmart, is developing a hiPSC-based in vitro model of cardiac tissue to advance treatments for cardiovascular diseases that lead to heart failure. The HeartSmart model stands out for its innovative combination of technology and biology. The model enables measuring the effects of cardiac fibrosis – a major contributor to heart failure – by combining tunable tissue stiffness with high-accuracy force measurements in miniaturized engineered heart tissues.