Professor C.L. (Christine) Mummery

As a specialist in in research on human pluripotent stem cells, I established the LUMC hiPSC&Organ-on-Chip Facility. We develop complex human models based on patient derived cells to understand underlying mechanisms of disease and find new ways to treat the condition. I trained in Biophysics in the University of London, was a postdoctoral fellow, group leader then professor in the Hubrecht Institute and in 2008 moved to the LUMC where became Department Head until 2019. I am a member of the KNAW and KHMW. I am coordinator of the NWO Gravity Grant “Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative, the NWO GWI Grant hDMT INFRA Stem Cells, and am PI in the NovoNordisk Foundation grant reNEW. I am a member of/chair the (Scientific Advisory) boards of hDMT (Netherlands Human Organ and Disease Modeling Technology forum), the Allen Institute, Mogrify, Sartorius, Cellestic, Sync Biosystems and HeartBeatBio. I was president of ISSCR 2020-2021 and am founding editor of its journal Stem Cell Reports. Other activities: panels of the ERC and the NWO Sectorplan.

I am a laureate of the ERC with Advanced and Proof-of-Concept grants, coordinator of an NWO Gravity Grant “Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative”, an NWO GWI Grant hDMT INFRA Stem Cells, and am PI in the NovoNordisk Foundation grant reNEW. I am PI on an EU grant REGeRNA investigating cell cycle re-entry of cardiomyocytes.

My research concerns developing human models of healthy and diseased tissue from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Focus is on cardiac and (small) vessel disease but includes immune and stromal cells, all derived from (patient) hPSC. Our assays range for single cell types in 2D, to multi-cell type 3D microtissues or organoids, as appropriate including microfluidic flow in OoC devices. Our pipelines for drug discovery include automated screening and AI analysis of cell responses. By understanding underlying mechanisms of disease, we aim to develop new therapies. By combining different cardiac cell types, we are able to detect toxic side effects of drugs on the heart and better predict cardiotoxic risk in humans.