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ERC Consolidator grant for biofabrication research on vascular and islet biology

  • rlevato
  • Dec 9
  • 2 min read

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I am deeply humbled and honored for receiving support from the @European Research Council Consolidator Grant, to further our research on #bioprinting. Let’s turn on the spotlight on stem cells, pancreatic islets and their specialized blood vessels!


Lab-made biological tissues have potential as tools for biomedical research, and finally as grafts for regenerative medicine. However, to meet this promise, our society needs better ways to understand human biology, and therefore to develop a roadmap to build tissues that can reliably perform in vivo-like organ functions.


What if 3D #bioprinters could be smarter, and use #AI and synthetic biology to learn how cells grow, communicate with cells to understand what signals they need, and therefore give them the best environment and stimuli to thrive and form mature, vascularized tissue analogues? In this #ERCCoG SMART-AGENT, we will leverage the power and precision of light, to visualize unseen elements within biological materials, 3D print and build living tissues, and deliver information to living cells.


We aim to develop a blueprint (or better said, a multicolor print!) for the creation of vascularised tissues, while capturing all the quirks and unique feature that vascular cells acquire in different regions of the vascular tree. We will first investigate these technologies to reproduce the endocrine pancreas in different stages of diabetes, to better understand new therapeutic targets.


This new ERC project was only made possible by the amazing work of all the #biofabulous teammates from our lab at Utrecht University and UMCUtrecht, who built the foundation for SMART-AGENT. Thank you all and to all the alumni for sharing every day your passion for discovery and innovation, and looking forward to more fun, excitement and puzzles when exploring new frontiers together. Science is in fact a journey that is only possible with cooperation and teamwork, and we are privileged to be able to connect with many partners in the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht, Utrecht Science Park and abroad.


Thanks to the European Research Council for supporting frontier research and for their forward-thinking vision that enables researcher to venture in uncharted territory with unparalleled freedom. Science often evolves in unpredictable ways, and one research question easily leads to unexpected discoveries and ideas. This is the lifeline for driving innovation in our society, and to spark scientific curiosity, knowledge, and critical thinking for all European citizens. It was only thanks to the vision of the ERC that for our lab it was possible to bring to life GRACE, the bioprinting technology that is now a seed for SMART-AGENT, and that derived from an unforeseen development from the #ERCStG VOLUME-BIO: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/ai-turns-printer-partner-tissue-engineering 

If you have not seen it yet, check out the full paper #openaccess on @Nature Magazine @Nature Portfolio: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09436-7 


Last, but not least, we are also profoundly grateful to the esteemed scientific communities and friends from all over the world: International Society for Biofabrication, TERMIS, ESB. Thank you all for making our field of research extremely vibrant, inspiring, and impactful for the future of healthcare.


Useful links:

Check out the full announcement from the European Research Council, inlcuding the list of all the awarded projects: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2025-consolidator-grants-results


Press release from Utrecht University:


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