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Animal models predominate the field of drug testing and discovery, despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that such models are often poor predictors of human reactions. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, Dr. David Pamies is working on something which might help to address these shortcomings: a human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived 3D platform, and the development of a brain organoid\\u2014an in vitro model representing the human brain.

He and his team are using the model to predict the toxicity of many different chemicals that we encounter on a daily basis.\\xa0In addition to providing a cheaper and more efficient way of studying this than the industry standard of mouse models, this model is allowing Dr. Pamies to study the\\xa0effectiveness\\xa0of pharmaceuticals such as\\xa0temozolomide\\xa0in glioblastoma, a type of\\xa0brain cancer\\xa0also referred to as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

He explains how they transplant and incorporate glioblastoma tumors from humans into the model, what they\\u2019ve learned so far in doing so, and the current issues they\\u2019re working on. He also discusses the nature of his most recent research and where it\\u2019s headed in the future.

Tune in to hear the full conversation.