I am using patient derived intestinal and liver organoids in the context of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). They are powerful tools that improve human risk assessment by enabling more accurate modelling of environmentally relevant human exposure to micro and nanoplastics (MNPs), while also reducing reliance on animal models. These 3D models can recapitulate miniature versions of their respective organs of origin, preserving patient-specific interindividual variabilities while also reflecting distinct healthy and diseased features. They enable advanced toxicological analyses allowing us to investigate in great depth the mechanisms and pathways involved in toxic exposures by assessing their impact on cell viability, function, structure, polarization and responses.

My goal is to study how MNPs interact with the gut-liver axis starting with their effects on healthy and diseased intestinal epithelium and their ability to translocate across this barrier into the systemic circulation, where they may be transported to the liver and further contribute to pathological mechanisms.

Prior to joining the Centre of Environmental Hepatology, my PhD work focused on investigating the interactions between environmental pollutants -­particularly those stemming from plastic waste and plastic use- and membrane transporters. I aimed to describe how such interactions, usually described in drug induced injury, could result in similar environmental pollutant induced injuries that could contribute to the development of or aggravate already existing pathologies.