New European Society launched to accelerate Organ-on-Chip research

The new European Organ-on-Chip Society (EUROoCS) was officially launched at the third International Organ-on-Chip Symposium, held on 8 and 9 November 2018 at the University of Technology in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The Society will encourage development and coordination of Organ-on-Chip research in Europe in support of better health for all. Membership will be open from 2019 to all researchers in the field, providing access benefits to the pending digital Organ-on-Chip platform, the annual meeting and the future society journal.

In the presence of 180 scientists from twelve countries Christine Mummery, chair of the new Society, initiated the launch ceremony, which subtly referred to the annual light festival in Eindhoven, site of the launch, and the classical light bulb developed there a century ago. "It is a European Society but everyone worldwide is welcome to join. We are just at the early start, and there is much work to be done before we are operational and everybody can sign in. But we look forward to being the forum for this research in Europe and we are here to stay," Janny van den Eijnden-van Raaij of hDMT says, among the first Board members of EUROoCS.

Accelerating Organ-on-Chip research

The purpose of the Society is to encourage and develop Organ-on-Chip research, and to provide opportunities to share and advance knowledge and expertise in this field towards a better health for all. EUROoCS is one of the first outcomes of the Horizon 2020 project ORCHID (Organ-on-Chip In Development), that aims to create a roadmap for Organ-on-Chip technology and to build a network of all parties involved.

Open for all researchers

Membership is open from 2019 to all researchers worldwide in the Organ-on-Chip field. The annual European Organ-on-Chip symposium will be organized in a different country in Europe each year. The next will be held in Graz, in Austria, on 2 and 3 July 2019. It will provide many opportunities for scientific discussion and interaction, and bring together young scientists with top experts in the field.

Easy connection via platform and journal

The membership will have many advantages for scientists, in particular finding collaborators via the digital Organ-on-Chip platform presently under construction, and disseminating results via the future Society journal.

The first Board members

The first Board of EUROoCS has the following members:

• Christine Mummery (chair; Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands)
• Peter Loskill (vice-chair; Fraunhofer IGB Stuttgart/University of Tübingen, Germany)
• Janny van den Eijnden-van Raaij (secretary/treasurer; hDMT, the Netherlands)
• Albert van den Berg (member; University of Twente, the Netherlands)

Source: https://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/2018/european-organ-on-chip-society-launched.html