Young 3Rs Investigator Awards 

The 2024 Young 3Rs Investigator Awards have been awarded to Doris Zauchner (ETH Zürich) and Manon Murdeu (EMPA) for their outstanding work in advancing human-relevant alternatives to animal testing. Their innovative research in rare disease modeling and reproductive toxicology exemplifies the 3Rs principle by reducing animal use while enhancing the quality and ethical standards of biomedical science. 

Doris Zauchner Recognized for Pioneering Non-Animal Research in Rare Disease Modeling 

Doris Zauchner, a doctoral researcher at ETH Zurich’s Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST), has received a 3Rs Young Investigator Award for developing a personalised, animal-free model of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder that causes brittle bones. Her work introduces a cutting-edge “OI-on-a-chip” platform—an organoid-on-chip system that mimics human bone tissue using patient-derived cells, embedded in a synthetic, animal-free hydrogel matrix.

Traditionally, OI research has relied on animal models such as mice, zebrafish, and dogs. Despite over 500 studies in the last two decades and dozens of clinical trials grounded in animal research, these models often fail to capture the complexity and variability of human OI. Zauchner’s human-relevant alternative addresses this gap directly. “Our in vitro model of Osteogenesis Imperfecta aims to provide a human-based alternative to animal models to better understand the disease and explore potential treatments,” said Zauchner. “I hope tools like ours will help advance rare disease research and reduce reliance on animal models in the future.” The platform allows researchers to observe how cells from OI patients produce and organise collagen—a protein essential for bone strength—and how they respond to mechanical stress, closely mimicking the forces bones experience in the human body. This capability provides a more accurate, ethical alternative to animal testing and aligns with the Replacement principle of the 3Rs.

Developed in collaboration with the University Children’s Hospital Zurich (KISPI) under the SNF-NRP79 ‘Advancing 3R’ initiative, the model could support personalised treatment strategies, optimise preclinical testing, and minimise unnecessary animal use. By generating reliable, human-specific data early in the research pipeline, Zauchner’s innovation also improves the design of later-stage studies. Reviewers praised the project as “a strong and thoughtfully designed application that addresses an important unmet need in rare disease research,” highlighting that “the impact is clear: the model replaces traditional preclinical animal studies in early-stage research and reduces unnecessary animal use by providing more reliable human data upfront.”

Beyond OI, this human-based platform could be adapted for other musculoskeletal and matrix-related diseases, including osteoporosis and fibrosis. Zauchner’s work represents a significant step toward a future where personalised, organ-on-chip technologies drive more predictive and ethical biomedical research. 

Manon Murdeu Wins 3Rs Young Investigator Award for Breakthrough in Pregnancy Safety Testing 

Manon Murdeu, a doctoral researcher at Empa’s Particles-Biology Interactions Lab, has received a 3Rs Young Investigator Award for developing a groundbreaking placenta-embryo chip—an innovative, human-based tool to assess the effects of chemicals, drugs, and nanoparticles during pregnancy without using animals. Her work tackles a major gap in health research: the lack of safety data on how substances affect pregnant women and developing embryos.

Currently, over 90% of approved drugs and most environmental chemicals lack reliable data on their safety during pregnancy. Due to ethical and legal restrictions, pregnant women are rarely included in clinical trials. As a result, nearly all testing for developmental toxicity still relies on animal experiments—particularly in rodents—despite significant biological differences between species. Each standard study can involve hundreds of animals, and globally, tens of thousands are used annually for this purpose. Murdeu’s model offers a compelling alternative. Her chip co-cultures human placenta and embryonic tissue in a simple, pump-free system that mimics the maternal-foetal interface. It allows scientists to study how substances transfer through the placenta and affect early development—providing human-relevant insights that animal models often miss. Importantly, the chip’s user-friendly design makes it accessible to researchers without specialised training in microfluidics. Reviewers praised the project’s scientific rigour and far-reaching potential: “The development affects very high animal numbers around the world.” “It is encouraging to see the model gaining attention from international stakeholders and being positioned for broader regulatory relevance.” “I am particularly impressed by the effort to fill a significant data gap in the evaluation of toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics during pregnancy, an area where data are lacking for the vast majority of approved drugs and environmental chemicals.” Murdeu states: “Receiving this award is both an honor and a motivation to push the boundaries of women’s reproductive health research and, hopefully, it will inspire other young scientists to develop and improve new human-based alternatives to animal models.” She adds: “With our model we aim to gain early pre-clinical data for drug and nanoparticle hazard assessment, contributing to the protection of pregnant women and developing foetuses while reducing the need for extensive animal testing.”

With growing interest from research and regulatory communities, Murdeu’s placenta-embryo chip could become a first-tier tool in international safety assessment frameworks. Her work stands to significantly reduce the use of animals in developmental toxicity testing while improving protections for maternal and foetal health.