Photo UNIGE. A gauche/left: Dre Sanae El Harane. A droite/right: Drw Maude Rolland
Each year, Unitec awards two innoLIFE grants of up to CHF 100,000 each to support inventions developed at the UNIGE in the field of health. Dr Sanae El Harane, Department of Medicine, and Dr Maude Rolland, Department of Surgery, are the two 2025 laureates.
Towards innovative solutions for transporting ready-to-use organoids - Sanae El Harane
Building on the successful development of Airliwell technology, soon to be commercialised by the Harantech spin-off, the team is now tackling a new challenge: the reliable shipment of pre-seeded organoid plates.
Organoids are transforming biomedical research and drug discovery, but their widespread adoption is hampered by the lack of efficient transport solutions that guarantee their viability and functionality on arrival. This project focuses on developing innovative methods for shipping organoids, enabling scientists and industrial partners to receive ready-to-use organoid cultures without the need for additional handling.
Towards more efficient production of gene therapy vectors - Maude Rolland
Gene therapy represents a major medical advance, based on the use of specialised vectors to introduce therapeutic genetic material into cells. However, the production of these vectors remains costly, slow and unreliable, which is a real obstacle to the development of innovative treatments.
One promising approach is to develop so-called 'conditioning' cell lines: cells designed to produce all the elements required for vector production in a stable and efficient manner. Using innovative approaches to overcome these difficulties, this project aims to create the first high-yield conditioning cell line. This reliable, cost-effective and scalable solution could transform vector production and accelerate access to life-changing gene therapies.