KRISTINA HAASE
BIOGRAPHY
Kristina Haase holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Biophysics from the University of Ottawa, Canada. Kristina received an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship and moved to Roger Kamm´s group at MIT. At MIT she produced a number of 3D in vitro vascularized models.
As group leader, Kristina is continuing work in developing tissue-specific vascular models at EMBL Barcelona. Her group focuses primarily on models of human placenta, tumor, and cardiac tissues (recently funded by ERC StG), in an effort to understand pathologies stemming-from and related-to vascular disease.
TOPIC: 'MICROSCALE MODELS OF HUMAN VASCULARIZED TISSUES'
Increasingly complex in vitro models are gaining traction as potential models for studying disease, as well as for high-throughput drug testing. Humanized models will reduce the need for large animal studies and bridge the interspecies biological gap.
Despite advances in iPSC and gene-editing technologies, fundamental components of tissue-specific microenvironments are still lacking in most human models. Lack of functional vasculature has been hypothesized as one major limitation lending to the limited predictability of these systems.
To overcome this challenge, we are developing tissue-specific models integrating microvessels using macro-scale fluidic chips. By exploiting emergent and self-assembly properties, primary and iPSC-derived endothelial and stromal cells are embedded in natural hydrogels to form perfusable microvessels in a tissue-dependent context. This talk will provide an overview of several vascularized models being developed in our group: placental, mammary and cardiac models. Each vascularized system demonstrates unique, tissue-specific, cell-cell interactions and mechanical cues, that drive microvessel remodelling and changes in vascular barrier function.
These humanized systems are useful for addressing questions targeting vascular diseases and hold promise for development into preclinical models – a major aim of our lab.