#87, Modeling Integrated Human Physiology with Microfluidics with Andrei Georgescu from Vivodyne

AWS Health Innovation Podcast

Pushing the boundaries of human biology, Vivodyne has developed a groundbreaking microfluidic bioengineering platform capable of growing tens of thousands of human tissue samples at scale. Our guest is Andrei Georgescu, the CEO of Vivodyne, whose unique background bridging electrical engineering and bioengineering led him to develop this innovative approach. Hosting the interview is Yin He, Principal Business Development for Healthcare and Life Sciences Startups at AWS, who will explore how Vivodyne's platform combines the principles of organs-on-chips and organoids at high throughput.

1. How does Vivodyne's microfluidic platform revolutionize drug discovery?
   • Vivodyne's microfluidic bioengineering platform enables growing tens of thousands of human tissue samples at scale, providing unprecedented insights into human biology before clinical trials. This approach aims to revolutionize drug discovery success rates by gathering massive human data currently lacking.
2. What is the key innovation behind Vivodyne's approach?
   • Rather than top-down engineering, Vivodyne leverages principles of organs-on-chips and organoids to enable bottom-up self-assembly of complex human tissues at high throughput. This allows studying tissue interactions, systemic effects like immune responses, and linking multiple systems to model integrated physiology.
3. How does Vivodyne's platform align with ethical principles?
   • By producing foundational human data on gene edits, drug metabolism, off-target effects and more, Vivodyne's automated microfluidic platform displaces animal testing facilities while significantly reducing costs. This aligns scientific advancement with ethical principles.
4. What challenge is Vivodyne tackling, and how?
   • Integrating isolated biological knowledge into a holistic, system-level understanding remains extremely challenging. Vivodyne is tackling this immense complexity by combining microfluidics' control with high-throughput human tissue data generation to enable AI modeling of human biology at unprecedented scales.
5. What advice does Vivodyne's CEO have for biotech entrepreneurs?
   • As a biotech entrepreneur, Vivodyne's CEO Andrei Georgescu advises tackling very difficult yet high-impact problems, as the potential upside outweighs incremental approaches despite perceived higher risk. Transformative innovation requires embracing immense challenges.

To learn more about Vivodyne's groundbreaking work, visit their website at vivodyne.com.

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