Organoids Are Us 2025
Organoids Are Us 2025 was a symposium featuring organoids, stem cells, cancer, inflammatory disorders and infectious disease.
The conference e-book including all abstracts is available for download and further information about this event including our invited speakers and conference programme are available in the tabs below. If you have any questions, please contact organoids-are-us@crukscotlandinstitute.ac.uk
|Event Overview|
Event Overview
Organoids Are Us symposia incorporate both basic and clinical/diagnostic research and are a significant national and international forum for exchange of new data and a “progress report” on the application of organoid-based technologies.
The 2025 symposium was held at the CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow, United Kingdom on Tuesday September 23rd to Friday September 26th, 2025. This was the seventh Organoids Are Us symposium and the first one held in Europe and the UK! Plenary, Keynote and Symposium sessions, including rapid fire short talks and poster sessions, made up the programme which includes many well-known international speakers.
We thank everyone who was a part of Organoids Are Us 2025 symposium and hope to see you again next year. More details on next years edition to follow shortly
Conveners:
Professor Owen Sansom, Director of CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow UK
Professor Elizabeth Vincan, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Australia
Professor Ram DasGupta, CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow UK
Organiser:
Dr Linus Reichenbach, CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow UK
|Speakers|
Speakers
Plenary speaker
Prof Hans Clevers - Utrecht University, Netherlands
Keynote speakers
Prof Arial Zeng - Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Prof Helmuth Gehart, Institute of Molecular Health Science, Zurich, Switzerland
Tony Burgess Orators
Dr Maree Faux - Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), Parkville, VIC, Australia
Dr Vivian Li, The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Invited Speakers
Prof Nick Barker, A*STAR IMCB, Singapore
Dr Mathew Garnett, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK
Dr Phil Jones, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK
Prof Suet-Yi Leung, University of Hong Kong
Dr Alice Soragni, UCLA, United States
Prof Maximilian Reichert, TU Munich, Germany
Dr Vincenzo Corbo, University of Verona, Italy
Dr Anne Rios, Princess Maxima Centre, Netherlands
Dr Somponnat Sampattavanich, Mahidol University, Thailand
Dr Michele Zagnoni, University of Strathclyde, UK
Dr Chiara Braconi, University of Glasgow, UK
Prof Fiona Oakley, University of Newcastle, UK
Prof Tom Bird, University of Edinburgh, UK
|Programme|
Scientific Programme
The symposium took place from Tuesday Sept 23rd 4 pm until Thursday Sept 25th. The final programme can be found below.
Full details including abstracts for all talks can also be found in our conference e-book.
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Tuesday Sept 23rd |
Registration opens 4 pm |
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5.15 – 7:00 pm |
Opening Session Chair: Elizabeth Vincan/Owen Sansom Sponsored by: |
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5.15 - 5.30 pm |
Welcome – Open meeting |
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5.30 - 6.30 pm |
Plenary Talk: Hans Clevers (Utrecht University, Netherlands) Culturing Human Epithelial Organoids in 3D and 2D |
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6.30 – 6.45 pm |
Platinum Sponsor Talks – Amir Keric, OLS OMNI Life Science From Growth to Differentiation: Scalable Solutions for Modern Stem Cell Research |
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6.45 – 7.00 pm |
Platinum Sponsor Talks – Salvatore Simmini, STEMCELL Technologies Modelling the Gut In Vitro: Enhancing Complexity in Organoid-Derived Models |
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7.00 – 9.30 pm |
Mixer and Posters |
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Wednesday Sept 24th |
Registration opens 8.00 am |
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9.00 – 10.30 am |
Session 1 – Stem cells, Regeneration, and Cancer 1 Chair: Ram DasGupta Sponsored by:
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9.00 – 9.30 am 30 min |
Nick Barker (A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore) Deciphering Stem Cell Roles in GI Tract Homeostasis & Cancer |
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9.30 – 9.45 am 15 min |
Short Talk #1 Amlan Barai (Aix-Marseille University, France) A multicellular actin star network underpins epithelial organization and connectivity |
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9.45-10.30 am 45 min |
Tony Burgess Orator I Vivian Li (Francis Crick Institute, UK) Intestinal engineering and colorectal cancer targeting |
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10.30– 11.00 am |
Morning tea – 30 min/posters/trade area |
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11.00 – 1.00 pm |
Session 2 – Stem cells, Regeneration, and Cancer 2 Chair: Nick Barker Sponsored by:
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11.00 – 11.30 am 30 min |
Phil Jones (Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK) Epithelioids are us |
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11.30 – 12.00 pm 30 min |
Suet Yi Leung (University of Hong Kong) Organoid models of gastrointestinal cancer evolution |
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12.00 – 12.15 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #2 Eleanor Earp (University of Edinburgh, UK) A novel embryonic stem cell derived organoid to investigate neighbour effects in the skin |
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12.15-1.00 pm 45 min |
Keynote I Helmuth Gehart (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Modelling tumor cell heterogeneity and plasticity in organoids |
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1.00 – 2.00 pm |
Lunch – 60 min/posters/trade area |
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2.00 – 3.30 pm |
Session 3 – Organoid Biobanks for Cancer Research Chair: Elizabeth Vincan Sponsored by: |
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2.00 – 2.30 pm 30 min |
Mathew Garnett (Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK) A Tumour Organoid Biobank for Mapping Cancer Cell Vulnerabilities |
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2.30 – 3.00 pm 30 min |
Somponnat Sampattavanich (Mahidol University, Thailand) Tumoroids from the Tropics: Building Thailand’s Living Biobank for Precision Oncology |
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3.00 – 3.30 pm 30 min |
Alice Soragni (UCLA, USA) Leverage patient-derived tumor organoids for precision medicine |
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3.30 – 4.00 pm |
Afternoon tea – 30 min/posters/trade area |
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4.00 – 6.00 pm |
Session 4 –Organoid for Precision Medicine and Screening Chair: Somponnat Sampattavanich Sponsored by:
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4.00 – 4.30 pm 30 min |
Michele Zagnoni (University of Strathclyde, UK) Accelerating organoid screening with lab-on-a-chip technology |
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4.30 – 4.45 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #3 Sevde Altuntas (Health Sciences University, Turkey) Establishing patient-derived pancreatic organoids with customised microenvironments for functional drug screening studies |
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4.45 – 5.15 pm 30 min |
Tom Bird (University of Edinburgh, UK) Organoid based screens for precision medicine in liver cancer |
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5.15 – 6.00 pm 45 min |
Tony Burgess Orator II Maree Faux (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia) Exploring avenues to target cancer |
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Thursday Sept 25th |
Opens 8.00 am |
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9.00 – 10.45 am |
Session 5 – Organoid Models in Cancer Research I Chair: Maree Faux Sponsored by: |
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9.00 – 9.30 am 30 min |
Vincenzo Corbo (University of Verona, Italy) Modelling ecDNA dynamics in pancreatic cancer using organoids |
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9.30 – 9.45 am 15 min |
Short Talk #4 Ben Dwyer (Curtin University, Australia) A patient-derived organoid drug development platform for primary liver cancer incorporating precision bioprinting |
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9.45-10.15 am 30 min |
Maximilian Reichert (TU Munich, Germany) Dynamic Modelling of Tumour Cell States and Lineage Plasticity in Pancreatic Cancer |
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10.15-10.45 am 30 min |
Chiara Braconi (University of Glasgow, UK) Clinical Applicability of Biliary Cancer Patients Derived Organoids: potentials and hurdles |
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10.45– 11.15 am |
Morning tea – 30 min/posters/trade area |
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11.15 – 1.00 pm |
Session 6 – Organoid Models of Human Disease Chair: Arial Zeng Sponsored by:
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11.15-11.45 am 30 min |
Fiona Oakley (University of Newcastle, UK Title - TBA |
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11.45-12.00 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #5 Asma Ahmed (CRUK Scotland Institute, Scotland) Harnessing immunogenic cell death to improve prostate cancer therapy |
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12.00-12.30 pm 30 min |
Anne Rios (Princess Maxima Centre, Netherlands Organoid cancer immunity models in motion |
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12.30- 12.45 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #6 Erwan Sallard (University of Oxford, UK) Selection of Adenovirus vectors optimised for mucosal vaccine delivery using novel tonsil lymphoid and epithelial organoids |
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12.45 – 1.00 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #7 Leonardo D’Aiuto (University of Pittsburgh, USA) Dynamics of paraspeckles components in HSV-1 infected human neuronal cells |
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1.00 – 2.00 pm |
Lunch - 60 min/posters/trade area |
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2.00-4.00 pm |
Session 7 – Organoid Models in Cancer Research II Chair: Vivian Li Sponsored by: |
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2.00-2.15 pm 15 min |
Platinum Sponsor Talk - Thore Boettke, Bruker Spatial Biology Single-Cell Spatial Analysis of Organoids: Integrating Transcriptomic and Proteomic |
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2.15-2.20 pm 5 min |
Sponsor Talk - Darren Heywood, Promega Advancing Cell Proliferation Analysis: A Smarter Approach |
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2.20-2.35 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #8 Stephen Adonai Leon-Icaza (University of Cambridge, UK) Organoids models for assessment of novel therapeutics against BK polyomavirus |
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2.35 – 2.50 pm 15 min |
Short Talk #9 Diana Drago-Garcia (Francis Crick Institute, UK) SOX2-driven cellular plasticity as a mechanism of drug resistance in colorectal cancer |
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2.50 – 3.20 pm 30 min |
Owen Sansom (CRUK Scotland Institute, Scotland) Using complex mouse and organoid models of colorectal cancer to understand the adaptive response to therapy in CRC |
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3.20 - 4.05 pm 45 min |
Keynote II Arial Zeng (Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, China) Harnessing Adult Stem Cells for Pancreatic Islet Regeneration |
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4.05 – 4.15 pm |
Poster Prize Announcement/Next meeting/Thank you/Meeting Close |
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7.00 – 11.00 pm |
Conference Gala Dinner and Ceilidh (by Ticket only, see Social Events) |
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Friday Sept 26th |
No Scientific Programme, Travel Day |
