Our Second Open Lab Hour

Following the first Open Lab Hour last year, OrganoVIR Labs, as part of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection prevention (MMI) of the Amsterdam UMC, decided to open its doors to visitors once again. This year, we welcomed nine technicians from the diagnostic department of MMI and gave them a closer look at human organoids and how we use brain, lung, and gut organoids in our research.

 

Today, on the 4th of April 2024, our research technicians, Eline Freeze, Nina Johannesson, and Joep Korsten welcomed technicians from the clinical diagnostic side of the department of MMI at the Amsterdam UMC into our laboratories. During the first part of the visit, our research technicians provided a brief introduction to human organoids and explained how they can be used to study human viruses. Here, they also provided an explanation of their roles as research technicians at OrganoVIR Labs.

(left: Joep Korsten, right: Eline Freeze)

Following the presentation, we gave the technicians a tour of our labs. At Amsterdam UMC, our researchers work in two different labs, the organoid culture lab (where our researchers culture brain, lung, and gut organoids) and the virus infection lab (where our researchers infect human organoids with human viruses). Both of our labs are BSL-2 (Biosafety Level 2) laboratories.

 

“It was nice to be able to show our organoids to the other technicians and also to explain how they can be applied in research” said Nina Johannesson, our research technician who led the tour of the labs. “I think the Open Lab Hour was a great opportunity to spark interest in human organoids, particularly for research technicians who are not working with organoids” she said.

(left: Eline Freeze, right: Nina Johannesson)

“I think it is important to open our doors to different people working at the MMI department in Amsterdam UMC. It is such a big department and I believe that it can be beneficial if we show each other what we are working on. This way, people can learn from each other and broaden their horizons” said our coordinator, Katja Wolthers.

 

*If you are interested in visiting our laboratories, please contact our Science Communications Officer, Dara Satrio (d.satrio@amsterdamumc.nl) or Katja Wolthers (k.c.wolthers@amsterdamumc.nl). 

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