Engineering Preclinical Models that Better Recapitulate the Chronic & Progressive Nature of Human Fibrosis
Time: 8:30 am - 10:30 am
day: Pre-Conference Day
Details:
As antifibrotic drug development moves towards more precise and long-term outcomes, conventional animal models fall short in capturing the full biological complexity of human fibrosis, mimicking the chronic, progressive, and complex nature. This session will explore innovative platforms that better replicate more chronic, multi-dimensional models that not only mimic human disease progression but also improve clinical translation and decision-making confidence.
This workshop will gather experts to:
- Explore the challenges of inducing true fibrotic pathology in vitro and the importance of 3D and organoid platforms to recapitulate collagen deposition, immune-fibrotic interactions, and tissue architecture to overcome the limitations of traditional models
- Move beyond “more blue is worse”, and discuss disease-specific histological patterning, collagen network assessment, and advanced gene expression tools (e.g., single-cell RNA-seq) for better model-to-patient correlation to quantify fibrosis with precision
- Explore kidney and cardiac organoids, lung and liver tissue slices, and engineered muscle systems using iPSC-derived cells to represent chronic disease trajectories to improve human relevance.
