Cécile Lucie Echalier

Academic interests

Biomaterials, biosensors, click chemistry, chemical biology, microphysiological systems

Background

• Passionate by the chemistry - biology interface
• Studied organic and biomolecular chemistry
• Developed biomaterials for tissue engineering applications during my PhD
• Designed chemical tools to study the mode of action of drugs during my previous postdoc
• Currently developing an integrated pancreas-on-a-chip

Project

• Organ-on-a-chip: Development of an integrated pancreas-on-a-chip

  Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or does not respond effectively to insulin. With over 422 million people with diabetes worldwide, there is an urgent need for prevention and improved treatment.

  The development of a miniaturized pancreas model, called “pancreas-on-a-chip”, would provide insight into this disease and would help to identify drugs to regulate insulin levels in the body. I am working at the development of a pancreas-on-a-chip by engineering a real-time insulin sensor and a biomaterial suitable for long-term preservation of insulin-producing islets.

Appointments

• Scientia fellow at UiO (Host: Stefan Krauss) and Imperial College London (Stevens group) since 2020

Positions held

• 2019 - 2020 Imperial College London, Research Associate
• 2017 - 2019 European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Postdoctoral researcher
• 2013 - 2016 University of Montpellier, PhD student

Link

LinkedIn