A Human Conjunctival Spheroid Platform for Inflammation and Ocular Safety Testing
The aim of this project is to develop and validate a scalable, fully human three-dimensional (3D) conjunctival spheroid model that closely mimics the structure and inflammatory responses of the human ocular surface. The model combines stromal and epithelial cells to reproduce key features of healthy and inflamed conjunctival tissue. It will be used to evaluate clinically relevant inflammatory stressors and improve ocular safety testing, ultimately contributing to more reliable preclinical research while helping to reduce the need for animal experiments.
Project management
Dr. Malik Salman Haider
He studied pharmacy in Pakistan and completed his doctorate in 2022 at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. His research combines biomaterials, polymeric drug-delivery systems, hydrogels, tissue engineering, and advanced human-relevant ocular models. One of the major focus is the development of three-dimensional in vitro and ex vivo models of the cornea, conjunctiva, lacrimal and meibomian gland for studying inflammation, fibrosis, ocular drug delivery, and safety testing. Dr. Haider coordinates interdisciplinary research projects, including funded projects on corneal bioreactor systems, vitreous substitutes, antifungal drug delivery system and human conjunctival spheroid models. His work aims to improve the physiological relevance and translational value of preclinical ophthalmic research while contributing to the reduction of animal experimentation.