Stem Cell & Organoid Laboratory
Understanding Body-Brain Communication
Our research uses advanced stem cell technologies to investigate how different tissues and organs communicate with the nervous system in health and disease. The gut and brain communicate continuously through the vagus nerve, coordinating digestion, immune responses, and systemic physiology. Disruption of this axis is increasingly implicated in neurodegenerative disease, stress-related disorders, and metabolic dysfunction. Yet the cellular and molecular logic of this communication remains poorly understood in humans: animal models diverge in key ways, and no tractable human system currently recapitulates the full gut-to-brain signaling chain.
Our Approach
Using organoids derived from human stem cells—in combination with 2D cultures and primary cell models—we reconstruct the signaling pathways between the gut and the brain in a controlled environment relevant to humans.
Why Stem Cell and Organoid Models
Organoids are miniature, three-dimensional tissue models generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Unlike traditional 2D cell cultures, they contain multiple interacting cell types and mimic key features of human tissues, which makes them suited to questions that simpler systems and animal models can't answer. Organoid technology:
- More closely reflects human biology than conventional cell cultures
- Enables reproducible and highly controlled experiments
- Allows patient-specific studies and personalized approaches
- Supports the 3R principles by reducing and refining animal research
Our Research
We investigate how signals from the body influence the nervous system and vice versa. Our key research questions include:
- How do microbial and inflammatory signals from the gut shape its communication with the nervous system??
- How do nutritional states and physiological stress alter body–brain signaling pathways?
- Which communication mechanisms are conserved across species, and which are uniquely human?
By combining human stem cell-derived models with the lab's in-vivo work, we aim to uncover fundamental principles of body–brain communication and advance our understanding of neurological and systemic diseases.
