KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Prof Mathieu Vinken
Vrije Universiteit Brussel-Belgium | Belgium
Mathieu Vinken is a full professor affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel-Belgium. He has a background in pharmaceutical sciences (Pharm.D.), holds a doctoral degree in experimental in vitro toxicology (Ph.D.), is a European registered toxicologist (E.R.T.) and a trained chemical risk assessor. His research focus is situated in the fields of experimental hepatology (cellular communication as a drug target for the therapy of liver disease), in vitro toxicology (mechanistic modelling of liver toxicity and set-up of liver-based in vitro systems) and space toxicology (effects of space conditions on the liver). He is author of more than 250 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals (Web of Science h-index 50). He is editor of 3 books. He is editor-in-chief of Toxicology and NAM Journal, associate editor of Archives of Toxicology and European editor of Applied In Vitro Toxicology. He coordinates several national and international projects. He is a regularly invited speaker on international conferences in the area of toxicology. He is past-president of the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro, and current executive committee member of the Federation of European Toxicologists and European Societies of Toxicology. He has received several research grants of the excellent science pillar of the European Union’s research and innovation frameworks, including from the European Research Council, the Future and Emerging Technologies program and the Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Actions program. He also received a number of scientific awards, among which the Galen Award for Pharmacology.
- ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5115-8893
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathieu-vinken-001a5354/
- Researcher ID: H-7513-2013
- Website: www.mathieuvinken.com
Dr. Peter Loskill
Eberhard Karls University Tübingen | Germany
Prof. Dr. Peter Loskill is W3-Professor for Organ-on-Chip Research at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen and the Natural and Medical Sciences Institute (NMI) as well as Past-Chair of the European-Organ-on-Chip-Society (EUROoCS). He graduated in 2012 from Saarland University with a PhD in Physics and thereafter worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Healy Lab at UC Berkeley. In 2015, he was named as one of Technology Review’s “Innovators under 35 Germany” and awarded an ATTRACT starting grant. He now heads the interdisciplinary µOrgano-Lab and the 3R Center Tübingen for In vitro Models and Alternatives to Animal Testing. The interdisciplinary µOrgano-Lab (https://www.organ-on-chip.uni-tuebingen.de) combines approaches from engineering, biology, physics and medicine to generate and apply novel microphysiological tissue models recapitulating complex human biology in vitro. The 3R Center Tübingen (https://www.the3rs.uni-tuebingen.de) aims to provide all scientists in Baden-Württemberg with low-threshold access to novel alternative methods to animal testing.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterloskill/
Dr. Adelina Rogowska-Wrzesinska
University of Southern Denmark | Denmark
Dr. Adelina Rogowska-Wrzesinska is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, where she leads a multidisciplinary research programme at the interface of advanced proteomics, stem cell biology, and 3D in vitro modelling. She is passionate about research-led innovation in disease modelling and drug screening, with a particular focus on inflammatory liver diseases such as MAFLD and fibrosis. Her team develops organoid-based platforms using iPSC-derived hepatocyte-like cells, hepatic cell lines, and co-culture systems incorporating microvasculature. By applying low-shear 3D culture systems such as Clinostat-based bioreactors, she explores how biophysical cues influence hepatic maturation, ECM remodelling, and protein oxidation. Working closely with industry partners, she aims to create scalable, accessible, and physiologically relevant organoid models for translational research.
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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adelinarogowskawrzesinska/
Prof Dr Marie Arsenian-Henriksson
Karolinska Institutet | Sweden
Marie Arsenian-Henriksson, PhD, Professor of Molecular Tumor Biology and Academic Vice-President at Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden. Her Lab focuses on targeting metabolism and MYC for precision medicine for cancer therapy. Between 2006 and 2016 she served as Head of the Department of Microbiology, Tumor, and Cell Biology (MTC). After stepping down she made a sabbatical in the Lab of Professor Robert Eisenman, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, USA. Professor Arsenian Henriksson served as faculty representative in the KI Board 2017-2019 and in the KI Recruitment Board during 2022-2023. During 2023 and 2024 she made a sabbatical in the Lab of Professor William Weiss at UCSF, San Francisco, USA. She holds Guest Professorships at Lund and Stellenbosch Universities.​
​Dr Tracey Hurrell
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) | South Africa
Dr Tracey Hurrell is a Principal Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa and is appointed as an extraordinary lecturer at the University of Pretoria. She completed her PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Pretoria, while also attending the University of Cambridge as a Commonwealth Scholar on a split-PhD where focused on the proteomic characterization of 3D cultures and induced pluripotent stem cell models of the liver. She then spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher in the Section of Pharmacogenetics at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden where she utilized primary human hepatocyte models to mimic liver disease. In her role as a Principal Researcher, her research includes the development and characterization of advanced cellular models - with a primary focus on context-dependent application of hepatic cell lines, induced-pluripotent stem cell derived liver, and primary human hepatocytes for studying metabolism and disease. Integration of clinical multiomics to understand the mechanistic drivers of liver disease in Africa is central to the fidelity of these advanced cellular models and is currently being undertaken with several clinical partners as part of the South African Clinical Multiome Atlas Project (SA Clin-MAP).
Prof Roan Louw
North-West University | South Africa
Roan Louw is a Professor of Biochemistry and Director of the Biomedical and Molecular Metabolism Research (BioMMed) group at North-West University, South Africa. His research centres on biochemistry and metabolism, with a strong focus on uncovering molecular mechanisms that inform biomedical applications. A key area of his work is the role of mitochondria in health and disease. To support this, he has developed and applied metabolomics approaches to study altered metabolic pathways in primary mitochondrial disorders, non-communicable diseases, and infectious diseases.
Dr Sanjeev Rambharose
Stellenbosch University | South Africa
Dr. Rambharose earned his PhD in Pharmaceutics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He specializes in developing novel drug delivery systems and works at the intersection of physiology, pharmaceutics, nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering. Dr. Rambharose leads the Bio-Inspired Drug Delivery (BioIDD) Research Group at Stellenbosch University. The group's focus is to utilize the characteristics of physiological systems to create precision drug delivery systems for both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Multiple national and international grants fund his research. He has expertise in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing various stages of preclinical, clinical, and translational research. Dr. Rambharose is a member of the Physiology Society of Southern Africa (PSSA). He is also appointed as an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Division of Emergency Medicine and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Additionally, he is part of the core team for the MSc in Nanoscience program hosted by the National Nanoscience Postgraduate Teaching Platform in SA. Dr. Rambharose acts as a reviewer for several international journals in the fields of drug delivery, nanotechnology, pharmaceutics, and physiology.