OH-BOOST Winter School 2025: Advancing 3D In Vitro Research

The OH-BOOST Winter School 2025, held at the Estonian University of Life Sciences from January 28–30, focused on next-generation 3D in vitro platforms. The event combined lectures, hands-on laboratory sessions, and workshops, providing participants with practical experience in advanced biotechnological methods.

The program began with an introduction by Prof. Alireza Fazeli, followed by Prof. Tiziana A.L. Brevini’s lecture on 3D cultures and biological scaffolds. The session covered the advantages of 3D models over traditional 2D cultures, as well as key techniques such as hanging drop organoid generation and tissue decellularization for scaffold development.

Throughout the event, participants engaged in laboratory sessions led by Prof. Georgia Pennarossa and Dr. Sharon Arcuri, working with:

• Organoid generation using the hanging drop method, enabling the formation of three-dimensional cell structures.

• 3D biological scaffold development through tissue decellularization, preserving extracellular matrices for tissue engineering applications.

• Microbioreactors, creating controlled environments for cell growth and interaction.

In addition to the laboratory sessions, Prof. Fulvio Gandolfi conducted two workshops on research metrics, performance indicators, and emerging technologies, providing insights into the evaluation and impact of scientific research, as a part of best practice transfer from University of Milan (you may find the presentations here: link link

The Winter School offered participants an opportunity to develop essential skills in 3D cell culture and tissue engineering, contributing to the advancement of in vitro research methodologies.