Hans Bouwmeester appointed as personal professor of 'Advanced Cell Models in Toxicology'

Hans Bouwmeester (1973) studied biology at the then Agricultural University, where he became interested in the influence of environmental substances on the development of animals. He obtained his PhD at Utrecht University with a thesis on the development of the connection between different brain areas in an animal model for human brain diseases. After working for 15 years at Wageningen Food Safety Research, Bouwmeester switched to the Toxicology chair group in 2016.

“Developments of advanced human cell-based laboratory models, also called mini-tissues, are moving rapidly these days. Combining different cell types in laboratory models, which are naturally present in, for example, the human intestine or liver, makes it possible to look at the mechanisms of action of substances in a different way. These often more complex models are a nice addition to the existing laboratory models. It enables fundamental research into the effect of substances, on the communication between different cell types in an organ. This could possibly provide an explanation for the effects of substances that we not yet fully understand.”

The research in his group is embedded in European and national initiatives that work together to make stem cell-based and 'Organ on chip' models applicable. These models are used, for example, to map the effects of micro and nanoplastics on human cells. Bouwmeester is the initiator of the Valuing Testing project funded by the National Science Agenda. He works together with biomedical and social science researchers to increase the acceptance of data from toxicological studies without laboratory animals.

“The acceptance of these studies is not only about proving whether testing methods are reliable, but also about what is needed to replace animal testing methods. From understanding how a substance works and its applicability in animal-free models, to accepting this animal-free data.”