Quick Facts
Biography
Uwe Marx (born 26 June 1964 in Berlin) is a German physician and biotechnologist, and is one of the world's leading researchers in the fields of organ-on-a-chip technology and antibody production. In 1989, he planned to recreate organs like liver, lung, or skin in vitro and to mimic organ functions and interactions outside a living organism. He was initially able to develop a human artificial lymph node model (in vitro) for immunogenicity tests. Since 2007, Marx has been working together with other scientists to reproduce the human organism on a microfluidic chip at a scale of 1:100,000. The aim is to shorten the entire drug development process as well as to reduce animal experiments and drug testing in humans during clinical trials. These microfluidic devices can also be used to test other substances (e.g. chemicals, cosmetic ingredients) for their safety and efficacy.
He is the founder of the biotechnology companies Vita 34, ProBioGen, and the TU Berlin spin-off TissUse. Marx has authored more than 50 publications and is an inventor on more than 140 patents.
Memberships
- Working Group Cell Culture Technology DECHEMA
- Supervisory Board ProBioGen AG
- Board of Trustees Fraunhofer IZI
Selected honors and awards
- (2017) Best Article Award in Annual Journal
- (2014) Recipient of 33rd Animal Protection Research Prize
- (2012) Recipient of Dorothy Hegarty Award for Best Article - ATLA vol 40, 2012
Selected publications
- (2016) Validation of bioreactor and human-on-a-chip devices for chemical safety assessment. (Chapter 12) Eds. Eskes and Whelan: Validating Alternative Methods for Toxicity Testing. Springer book. Rebelo, S.P.; Dehne, E.-M.; Brito, C.; Horland, R.; Alves, P.M.; Marx, U.
- (2016) Marx et al. t4 report: "Organs and Humans-on-a-chip" – a biology-inspired microphysiological systems approach to solve the current drug development dilemma. ALTEX 33(3). 30 authors.
- (2012) Human-on-a-chip’ Developments: A Translational Cutting edge Alternative to Systemic Safety Assessment and Efficiency Evaluation of Substances in Laboratory Animals and Man? ATLA, 40, 235-257. Marx, U.; Walles, H.; Hoffmann, S.; Lindner, G.; Horland, R.; Sonntag, F.; Klotzbach, U.; Sakharov, D.; Tonevitsky, A.; Lauster, R.