Prof. Dr. med. Simon Philipp Hoerstrup, PhD
Area of Research
Description of Research Interest
The focus of Prof. Hoerstrup’s group lies on the development of cell-based therapies, tissue engineering and organoid / biomimetic technologies. In several projects, cardiovascular replacements deriving either from in-vitro engineered decellularized homologous ECM or synthetic biodegradable polymers, are investigated. Both approaches enable off-the-shelf availability and furthermore exploit the regenerative capacity of the body to remodel and form new tissue upon orthotopic implantation by recruiting endogenous cells. Engineered functional vascular grafts and heart valves were successfully demonstrated in in vitro studies and animal models. Another aim is the development of translational stem- and progenitor cell based therapeutic concepts for cardiac repair and regeneration with a particularly focus on advanced scaffold-free 3D microtissues. The antibody-based technologies team develops novel therapies to treat inflammatory diseases such as heart attack, diabetes and cancer. The approach investigates how the human immune system naturally protects privileged individuals against inflammatory disease. The mechanistic knowledge from these studies is used to recombinantly engineer an entirely novel class of antibody-based therapeutics. The understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern angiogenesis and the neurovascular unit/perivascular niche in the central nervous system (CNS), during development as well as in CNS pathologies is another research topic.
Special Expertise
Tissue Enginering and Organoid / Biomimetic Technologies
Cell-Based Technologies
Disease Modeling Technologies (Micro-Tissue-Engineering)
Shareable Platforms, Services, Equipment & Infrastructure
Center for Therapy Development (GMP, IS0, GCP)
Center for Applied Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine (GLP)
Bio-Entrepreneurship Program, Founders Lab (IREM-UZH)
Biobank / IPSC - CORE
Organoid and automated 3D cell culture platform (microtissues)
Member of Collaborative/interdisciplinary Research Consortia
Core2Core/i2PARADIGM
CiRA (KU) - IREM (UZH) Kollaboration (Strategische Partnerschaft der UZH)
Wyss Institut
