Peter Loskill receives Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize from the DFG
The CMFI Principal Investigator and his colleague Silke Riegger of the 3R Center in Tübingen receive the Prize for the development, application and dissemination of organ-on-chip models to replace and complement animal experiments
The organ-on-chip systems developed by CMFI Principal Investigator Peter Loskill and his colleague Silke Riegger as an alternative to animal testing are tissue models that are grown in small cell culture chambers to simulate the complex physiological and pathophysiological functions of organs. These systems can be used to study metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, as well as ophthalmology.
The researchers are being honored not only for the development and application, but also for the standardization and validation of organ-on-chip models. With this work, they have laid an important foundation for the acceptance of the alternative method and its wider use as a reliable method. According to the German Research Foundation (DFG), the chances for a broad application of organ-on-chip systems are high.
The award ceremony will take place on June 6 in Würzburg during a symposium organized by the Würzburg Initiative 3R (WI3R).
About the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize
The Händel Animal Welfare Prize is based on the initiative of its namesake. Ursula M. Händel (1915-2011) from Düsseldorf was committed to animal welfare for decades in many different ways. She was particularly committed to animal welfare in science and research and provided the DFG with funds for the Animal Welfare Prize. The prize, which is endowed with a total of 80,000 euros, is awarded every two years to scientists who improve animal welfare in research in accordance with the 3Rs principle. The three Rs stand for Replace, Reduce and Refine. It is the most valuable research award of its kind in Germany.
About the award winners
Peter Loskill obtained his doctorate in physics at Saarland University in 2012 and subsequently worked for several years at the University of California at Berkeley. He moved to the University of Tübingen in 2018, initially as a junior professor, and has been Professor of Organ-on-Chip Research since 2022. Regarded as a pioneer in the field of 3R research, Loskill heads the Department of Microphysiological Systems at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering and the 3R Center for In Vitro Models and Animal Testing Alternatives. He is scientifically active at European level, too, as well as being involved in policy consulting. Silke Riegger completed her doctorate in chemistry at the University of Stuttgart and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology. She has worked with Peter Loskill in Tübingen since 2020 and is a key figure at the 3R Center as Senior Scientist and Head of the 3R Center Business Unit for In Vitro Models and Alternatives to Animal Testing.