Summary:
This on-demand roundtable webinar examines the growing shift toward animal alternatives such as stem cell based systems, organoids, organ on chip technologies, and computational models. The discussion explores why these approaches are gaining momentum, how they can improve human relevance and translational confidence, and what challenges still need to be addressed for broader adoption.
The panel also dives into the ethical and regulatory forces accelerating this transition, including efforts to reduce, refine, and replace animal use in research, as well as the practical considerations researchers face when integrating new approach methodologies into existing workflows.
Whether you are focused on basic discovery, translational research, or therapeutic development, this conversation offers valuable perspective on how the future of biomedical research is evolving beyond traditional animal models.
Speakers:
Joseph Wu, MD, PhD
Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology
Stanford University
Donald Ingber, MD, PhD
Founding Director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology
Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital
Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Shannon Mumenthaler, PhD
Chief Translational Research Officer
Ellison Medical Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California
Xiling Shen, PhD
Professor
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Cameron Ferris, PhD
Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer
Inventia Life Science