BARTFELD LAB
MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
Medical biotechnology is a rapidly expanding science. This field is driven by the development of multiple technologies and products for medical diagnosis, therapeutics, and biomedical research. It involves the usage of living cells and biological materials to understand the mechanisms of health and disease.
The field of biotechnology shaped a new era of healthcare science due to breakthroughs in molecular, personalized, and regenerative medicine. Consequently, medical biotechnology is only one step away to become the most significant discipline that improves human health.
OUR APPROACH
Our research aims to develop and improve in vitro models that provide enhanced therapy development and human disease investigation. As part of "Der Simulierte Mensch" (Si-M), a joint research center of Charité and TU Berlin, we aspire to simulate the functions of human cells with new 3D cultivation technologies, gaining knowledge of human health and disease. To pursue these goals, our lab exclusively works with adult human stem cell derived organoids as models for human physiology and pathology.
HUMAN PATHOLOGY
Infectious diseases are still one of the worldwide leading causes of death. Recently the field received global attention due to the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Organoids offer novel opportunities for a better understanding of disease development, host-microbe interactions, and the resulting inflammatory conditions. Our research focuses on the molecular basis of epithelial diseases with a strong emphasis on host cell responses to infections of the gastrointestinal tract and infection-associated cancer development. While asking basic mechanistic questions in infection, innate immune signalling and cancer biology, the group always strives to also improve in vitro models.
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
In vitro 3D culture models imitate the human in vivo situation and are therefore promising tools for medical research and the development of new treatments. One of the main objectives of the Bartfeld's lab has been the development and improvement of organoid cultures. Within this, the focus lies in simulating the digestive tract and the bone marrow niche for complex drug testing, human physiology and cell biology research.
