VIBRO-3R is a human gut on chip model of cholera. It rebuilds the intestinal epithelium with its peristaltic movement and immune cells, so that colonisation by Vibrio cholerae and the response of the host tissue can be examined directly. We use it to test antibiotics and phage therapies against the infection, as a human replacement for animal experiments.

The nose and gut carry dense microbial communities that influence one another and affect the course of respiratory infection. In MIRAGE we build a linked organ on chip system from human airway and gut tissues, differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and combined with immune cells. This lets us study how the two microbiomes interact in human tissue rather than in animals.

In ventilated intensive care patients, airway colonisation can progress to pneumonia, and the pathogens involved interact with one another and with the immune system in ways that are hard to study in patients. VATOP investigates this transition. Our group contributes immunocompetent lung on chip models of the human alveolus and bronchus, in which the interactions between host and pathogen can be observed directly. The work should help to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia earlier and to use antibiotics more sparingly.

Organ on chip models are powerful but slow to produce and hard to standardise. AutOoC develops automation for building and running them, so that they can be used routinely and at higher throughput in infection research and drug testing. Our group provides an immunocompetent lung model differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to study persistent Staphylococcus aureus infection and to test antibiotics packaged in nanoparticles. Because the models are human, they can replace animal experiments in early testing.

Parasitic flatworms such as Schistosoma mansoni and the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica cause widespread tropical diseases and use muscular suckers to attach, migrate and reproduce inside their host. In the Physics of Parasitism priority programme, we study the mechanical forces behind these behaviours across two consecutive funding phases. In the first phase (2021 to 2024) we established the platforms, including the microfluidic worm on a chip developed in our group together with force sensing hydrogels, and obtained the first measurements of parasite adhesion and tegument stiffness. The second phase (2025 to 2028) builds directly on these tools to quantify how the parasites adhere and exert force at host tissue under realistic flow, and how physical contact drives the pairing and reproduction of schistosomes.

The liver is the central organ of drug metabolism, and individual responses to a drug vary with a person's genetics, immune status and gut microbiome. VaskuChip builds a human liver model on a chip from standardised induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, with self forming vascular networks and circulating T cells. It allows immune mediated drug toxicity to be assessed in human tissue during preclinical drug development, without animal experiments.

MPS@NOVA Hub is a European coordination and support action that strengthens research capacity in microphysiological systems and pluripotent stem cell technology. Coordinated by the NOVA University of Lisbon, it connects several European groups to build a centre of excellence in Portugal for the study of chronic disease and host microbe interactions. Our group contributes its expertise in organ on chip models and infection research to this network.

Cystic fibrosis is a common inherited disease in which a defective CFTR gene produces thick, viscous airway mucus and chronic, difficult to treat infections, frequently with Staphylococcus aureus. This project builds a human, immunocompetent bronchiole on a chip from induced pluripotent stem cells that reproduces the cystic fibrosis phenotype, including the thickened mucus and reduced oxygen supply. Our group develops the tissue model and the accompanying S. aureus infection model, so that cystic fibrosis drugs and antibiotics can be tested in human tissue instead of in animals.

Parasitic flatworms such as Schistosoma mansoni and the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica cause widespread tropical diseases and use muscular suckers to attach, migrate and reproduce inside their host. In the Physics of Parasitism priority programme, we study the mechanical forces behind these behaviours across two consecutive funding phases. In the first phase (2021 to 2024) we established the platforms, including the microfluidic worm on a chip developed in our group together with force sensing hydrogels, and obtained the first measurements of parasite adhesion and tegument stiffness. The second phase (2025 to 2028) builds directly on these tools to quantify how the parasites adhere and exert force at host tissue under realistic flow, and how physical contact drives the pairing and reproduction of schistosomes.

Inno4Vac is a large European initiative to speed up and reduce the risk of vaccine development. In the project's in vitro models subtopic, our group develops human gastrointestinal and respiratory mucosal models from stem cells, built as organ on chip systems with immune cells. The respiratory models focus on influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the gastrointestinal models on human norovirus and Clostridioides difficile. Their purpose is to test correlates of protection in vitro, so that vaccine responses can be evaluated in human tissue rather than in animals.

The Leibniz Institute for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI) in Jena develops light based diagnostics and therapies for severe infection and sepsis. As one of its base technologies, this project profiles the host immune response in a highly parallel way across many cell and tissue types, to find patient subgroups and biomarkers that could guide more individual treatment. In this context our group develops optical interfaces that make organ on chip models of the lung, liver and gut accessible to high resolution live cell microscopy, so that infection processes and pathogen loads can be followed directly in the tissue. We also build personalised, immunocompetent infection models from human induced pluripotent stem cells, grown as organoids on chip, for biomarker discovery and individualised drug testing.

The Leibniz Institute for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI) in Jena develops light based diagnostics and therapies for infectious disease. This project develops early and rapid methods to diagnose and treat viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne respiratory viruses, combining photonic diagnostics, immune monitoring and antiviral drug testing. In this context our group provides human lung organ on chip models in which SARS-CoV-2 infection and candidate antiviral treatments can be studied in human tissue.