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Chronic kidney disease affects one in ten people worldwide and places a heavy burden on patients and healthcare systems. Research into new treatments is hampered by a lack of reliable laboratory models that accurately mimic how the human kidney works. Animal experiments are often used, but these are expensive, slow, and raise ethical concerns. My PhD research developed two innovative models that bridge the gap between simple cell cultures and complex animal studies.

The first is a “kidney-on-a-chip,” where miniature kidney tubules, grown from human donor tissue, are placed inside a microfluidic device that simulates blood flow. This system allows us to study essential kidney functions such as salt and water transport, and to test how drugs affect the kidney in a human-specific way. The second model uses the chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), a highly vascularized extra-embryonic tissue. This model provides a living environment in which engineered kidney tissues and devices can be rapidly tested for survival, vascularization, and safety.

Together, these approaches offer more predictive and ethically responsible alternatives for studying kidney disease, testing drug safety, and developing bioartificial kidneys. They also reduce the need for experiments in rodents and other mammals. The findings from this thesis form a step toward better treatments for patients with kidney disease and contribute to the broader development of animal-free biomedical research.