dr. M.A. Heinrich (Marcel)

Marcel's personal goal is to combine biology and chemistry with engineering strategies to develop novel models and create innovative treatments for cancer.

In 2016, Marcel obtained his Masters degree cum laude from the University of Twente for which he was awarded the KNCV Golden Master Award 2016 from the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society for the best Master thesis in a (bio)chemistry related field in the Netherlands. His thesis focused on the development of a novel lipoxin-based therapy for pancreatic cancer.

During the graduation phase he was pre-doctoral research fellow at the Khademhosseini Lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA where he was able to gain additional experience in the field of 3D bioprinting for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. After his Masters he continued as a PhD student at the University of Twente working on a NWO/KWF funded project in the group of Jai Prakash.

In 2022 he obtained the degree PhD cum laude. The main focus of his thesis was to design and develop novel 3D in vitro cell culture models using 3D biofabrication technologies such as spheroids or bioprinting to mimic the tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma multiforme and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. These models were used to study the cellular crosstalk between cancer cells and their environment in greater detail and to evaluate novel drug candidates.

Currently Marcel works as a PostDoc at the University of Twente, continuing his work in novel 3D models.

Medicine & Life Sciences

# Adenocarcinoma
# Biocompatible Materials
# Bioprinting
# Neoplasms
# Tumor Microenvironment

Engineering & Materials Science

# Tissue
# Tumors

Chemistry

# Biomaterial

I am currently working on novel 3D in vitro models that are able to mimic the complex microenvironment found in different tumors, with a particular focus on fibrotic and immune suppressed conditions. The goal is to generate models that allow for the optimization and evaluation of novel drug candidates in a controlled laboratory environment before these candidates reach animal studies. In such way the amount of animals needed, the time as well as financial burden for drug development might be significantly reduced. I hereby use several different biofabrication techniques including spheroid/ organoid technologies, 3D bioprinting or organ-on-chip systems.

Heinrich, M. A., Heinrich, L. , Ankone, M. J. K., Vergauwen, B. , & Prakash, J. (2023). Endotoxin contamination alters macrophage-cancer cell interaction and therapeutic efficacy in pre-clinical 3D in vitro models. Biomaterials Advances, 144, Article 213220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213220

Heinrich, M. A., Uboldi, I. , Kuninty, P. R. , Ankone, M. J. K., van Baarlen, J., Zhang, Y. S. , Jain, K. , & Prakash, J. (2023). Microarchitectural mimicking of stroma-induced vasculature compression in pancreatic tumors using a 3D engineered model. Bioactive Materials, 22, 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.09.015

Pednekar, K. , Heinrich, M. A. , & Prakash, J. (2022). Role of Integrins in the Tumor Stroma. In J. Prakash (Ed.), The Tumor Stroma: Biology and Therapeutics https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003224921-7

Bhut, Z. , Heinrich, M. A. , & Prakash, J. (2022). Physical Properties of the Tumor Stroma and Therapeutic Strategies. In J. Prakash (Ed.), The Tumor Stroma: Biology and Therapeutics https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003224921-5

Kuninty, P. R. , Binnemars-Postma, K. , Jarray, A., Pednekar, K. P. , Heinrich, M. A., Pijffers, H. J. , ten Hoopen, H. , Storm, G., van Hoogevest, P. , den Otter, W. K. , & Prakash, J. (2022). Cancer immune therapy using engineered ‛tail-flipping’ nanoliposomes targeting alternatively activated macrophages. Nature communications, 13(1), Article 4548. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32091-9

Shukla, P., Yeleswarapu, S. , Heinrich, M. A. , Prakash, J., & Pati, F. (2022). Mimicking tumor microenvironment by 3D bioprinting: 3D cancer modeling. Biofabrication, 14(3), Article 032002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/ac6d11

Calejo, I. , Heinrich, M. A., Zambito, G., Mezzanotte, L. , Prakash, J. , & Teixeira, L. M. (2022). Advancing Tumor Microenvironment Research by Combining Organs-on-Chips and Biosensors. In D. Caballero, S. C. Kundu, & R. L. Reis (Eds.), Microfluidics and Biosensors in Cancer Research: Applications in Cancer Modeling and Theranostics (pp. 171-203). (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology; Vol. 1379). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04039-9_7

Heinrich, M. A., Mangia, M. , & Prakash, J. (2022). Impact of endotoxins on bioengineered tissues and models. Trends in biotechnology, 40(5), 532-534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.12.001

Heinrich, M. A. (2022). Engineering the tumor microenvironment: Novel 3D in vitro models to study cellular interactions & therapeutics. [PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT, University of Twente]. University of Twente. https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036553162

Pednekar, K. P. , Heinrich, M. A., van Baarlen, J. , & Prakash, J. (2021). Novel 3d µtissues mimicking the fibrotic stroma in pancreatic cancer to study cellular interactions and stroma-modulating therapeutics. Cancers, 13(19), Article 5006. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13195006

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