Sexy cells – alternatives to animal experimentation

Are experimental animals needed to keep us safe and healthy? We think the answer is yes – for now. But it does not have to stay this way. To make a difference, we work on developing sex specific cell models in order to represent women and men alike, with the aim to contribute to reduce and eventually replace animal testing.

Biography

Judith Lechner is a researcher and teacher of Physiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI). In accordance with her respect for all living creatures, she chose to study Biology in Vienna and Innsbruck, followed by scientific work on cell cultures, not animals. As a member of the speakers’ team of the MUI animalFree Research Cluster she is engaged in promoting alternative methods to animal testing. Enhanced by the experiences with her son and daughter, she has – in addition – developed a strong interest for Gender Medicine. This led to investigations on sex specific differences in the function of the kidneys. Currently, Judith and her group are developing sex specific models from human renal cells in close collaboration with the group of Paul Jennings in Amsterdam, NL. This builds on his previous work with Gerhard Gstraunthaler and Anja Wilmes to establish renal cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells for in vitro toxicology studies within the EU-funded STEMBancc project.