Affiliation: University of Queensland, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Australia

Dr. Anne Lagendijk’s laboratory at the Institute for Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland uses zebrafish as a genetic model that is extremely suitable for live imaging, with a platform for generating 3D bioengineered human micro-vessels.

These models allow them to uncover the mechanisms that are essential for endothelial cell function in lumenized vessels that are under flow pressure and are exposed to physiologically relevant extracellular cues. In zebrafish they apply technically challenging genetic, transgenic, and live-imaging approaches that probe endothelial cell function live, up to level of single cells.

In addition, their recently implemented platform of bioengineered human vasculature complements the zebrafish work and allows them to tune and test parameters that contribute to endothelial cell biology, like blood flow and ECM stiffness.