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What if the smallest things around and inside you have the biggest influence on your health? This engaging talk explores the hidden world of gut microbes, the rising presence of micro- and nanoplastics in our environment, and how scientists are using cutting-edge “organ-on-chip” technologies to understand their effects on the human body. Discover how these invisible systems interact, shape disease risk, and are transforming the future of drug discovery and personalized medicine.
Organ on chip and drug discovery
Mohamed Ali
(Assistant Professor)
This talk introduces organ-on-chip technology and its role in transforming drug discovery. It explains how microfluidic systems replicate human organ function to model disease, test drug responses, and improve preclinical accuracy, reducing reliance on animal models and accelerating translational biomedical research.
Micronanoplastics - The Ecological Tower of Babel
Nikola Zlatkov
(Staff Scientist)
“The Ecological Tower of Babel” portrays the invisible danger of nanoplastics – infinitesimally small pieces of plastic resulting from the breakdown of plastic product material. I discuss how nanoplastics may induce mutations and why this kind of mutagenesis is markedly different from what we have seen so far from known mutagens.
It’s Not Just the Drug, It’s the Bugs!!
Chinmay Dwibedi
(Research fellow)
Your gut bacteria may influence how well diabetes medicines work. This talk explores how combining gut microbiota with our body’s biology could help tailor treatments to each individual.
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