MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University, NL

Stefan Giselbrecht studied bionics (biologically inspired engineering) and technical biology at the University of Saarbruecken, Germany, where he was inspired to work at the interface of biology and technology. He obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering in 2005 from the Institute of Microstructure Technology of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. From 2007 to 2014, Stefan headed the research group ‘Biomimetic Microdevices’ at the Institute for Biological Interfaces-1 at KIT. In 2014, he moved to the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, where he continued to work on advanced, 3D in vitro models at the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine. Stefan Giselbrecht is currently an Associate Professor and leader of the research group ‘Morphogenetic Micro Engineering’. In his research, he uses micro-and nanotechnologies to develop innovative, stem cell-derived 3D in vitro models to study self-organization and morphogenesis. His groups aim is to recapitulate and guide self-organizational processes in multicellular, 3D systems on multiple scales, using microfluidic cell culture platforms. Stefan Giselbrecht has co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals, such as Advanced Materials, Nature Reviews Materials and Science Advances, across range of topics including microengineering, 3D cell culture, microfluidic bioreactors, and innovative high-content/high-throughput imaging platforms. He has received multiple scientific and industrial awards and is (co-)inventor of 16 patents. He is also one of the founders and CEOs of the KIT spin-off company 300MICRONS GmbH, which develops and markets high-throughput 3D cell culture platforms.