Thank you so much. I am honoured to be part of the conference and winning the award on top of it makes this one of the happiest moments of my life. While I received the award, it is for the whole team as well, and I would like to dedicate it to Dr. Mogha and Mr. Tushar.

I have a background in molecular biology, and currently, in my PhD at IIT Bombay’s MLab in Chemical Engineering, I aim to integrate my expertise with microfluidics and engineering.

Our team at MLab in Chemical Engineering focuses on developing various types of micro-physiological devices that cater to the needs of pharmacological companies and the drug testing industry.

Certainly. The shift from 2D to 3D spheroid culture is a substantial leap in enhancing the predictability of drug effects and provides a viable alternative to animal models in the pharmacological industry.

The conventional methods, such as multi-well ultra-low attachment plates or the hanging drop method, demand substantial user attention, labour, and time for a high-throughput spheroid generation.

Despite the existence of various techniques for high-throughput spheroid generation, most of them rely on sophisticated and high-end equipment, which may not be readily accessible to a large number of startups and research labs worldwide. With guidance from Prof. Majumder, Dr. Pankaj Mogha, Mr. Tushar Gangwar, and I developed a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based device. This device is cost-effective, easily fabricated from commonly available lab items, and requires minimal user intervention compared to existing techniques.

The PDMS-based device allows easy cell seeding, spheroid visualization under the microscope, easy harvesting, and supports in-device drug testing. It not only significantly reduces fabrication costs but also requires minimal user intervention. Additionally, the incorporated flow system allows extended breaks for weeks as the culture media gets replenished daily.

Certainly. At the 3D GRAPHY conference hosted at IIT Bombay on December 9th and 10th, our work was recognized with the Best Poster Award. This acknowledgment reinforces our commitment to democratize access to 3D spheroid culture in drug testing across diverse research environments.

The 3D GRAPHY conference held at IIT Bombay was a fantastic platform for networking and learning, especially for individuals in medical and dental specializations. Throughout the conference, a series of talks were conducted, and delegates had the opportunity to present their work either through talks or by showcasing posters. Over 40 participants presented posters spanning various fields such as medical, dental, neurology, cardiology, orthopaedics, prosthetics, orthotics, and more. The two-day conference allowed participants to expand their knowledge, collaborate, exchange ideas, and collectively work towards devising better solutions for existing challenges in the fields of both medicine and engineering.

I would like to thank Dr. Shibu John for organizing this wonderful conference. For the first time, I experienced the army, navy, and air force coming together and sharing their problems which can be solved by 3D printing, visualization, and imaging technologies. I got to meet a lot of distinguished and high-rank army, navy, and air force officers which would have been impossible otherwise. Besides the amazing food, I discussed many of my ideas with professors over lunch breaks. So, overall, it was a one-of-a-kind experience.

Here I would like to give full credit to Prof. Abhijit Majumder. He constantly teaches us the art of presentation. As the best poster winner, my advice for my colleagues presenting their work is to keep it simple and clear. In the poster, use pictures instead of words that everyone can understand. Explaining the work in the simplest way possible is the key. Make sure to carry or showcase your product while presenting and make it interesting so people remember your work!

Sure. 3D spheroid culture is creating many applications relevant to or compared to in-vivo studies such as disease modelling, 3D bioprinting with spheroids, and organ-on-chip models. Currently, 3D culture and organ-on-chip are the best available alternatives to the animal models. As the field graduates with time, we will be able to better understand, predict, and cure the in-vivo situations in lab-grown in-vitro 3D models. Our low-cost high-throughput 3D spheroid generation device can democratise 3D culture across countries in achieving those goals.

Other than drug testing, 3D spheroids are used in a variety of disciplines such as understanding cancer tumoroid progression, cancer invasion, and how they metastasise. In developmental biology, they are used to study how embryos develop into organs and, eventually, into whole organisms. Also, spheroids are used in the fields of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, toxicology studies, wound healing, and curing neurodegenerative disorders.

We are looking forward to commercializing the device as a product. We would like to get in touch with companies to go ahead further with the device. Additionally, at MLab we are working on many such micro-physiological devices that are dedicated to multiple applications such as portable drug gradient testing devices, placenta-on-chip, blood-brain barrier-on-chip, and more. Both as an individual and together with our excellent team, I aim to contribute many such devices to the field, benefiting it in various ways.