Dr. Gaspard Pardon

Advancing translational cancer research with bioengineering and organoids technologies

Translational cancer research increasingly relies on physiologically relevant human models that bridge the gap between in vitro systems and clinical reality. At the Bioengineering & Organoids Technology Platform at the AGORA Cancer Research Centre in Lausanne, we develop and deploy advanced bioengineering tools to accelerate this transition.

Our open-access facility integrates organoid technologies, organ-on-chip systems, microfluidics, liquid-handling automation, and advanced imaging to support the local research community. We establish robust, scalable workflows for 3D multicellular models and functional assays tailored to translational applications.

In this talk, I will present representative projects enabled by the platform, including organoid-based radiation and regeneration assays to study treatment response, organoid–T cell co-culture systems to model tumor–immune interactions, and the implementation of organ-on-chip platforms with controlled perfusion to recapitulate tissue microenvironments. I will also discuss emerging strategies combining lipid nanoparticle delivery in vivo with CAR-T cell engineering approaches.

Together, these examples illustrate how integrating bioengineering, automation, and advanced 3D models can enhance mechanistic insight, therapeutic testing, and clinical translation in oncology.

Dr. Gaspard Pardon

Gaspard holds an MSc in Microengineering from EPFL and a PhD in Micro- and Nanosystems from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His doctoral work focused on microfluidic and electrokinetic technologies for point-of-care diagnostics, including airborne pathogen detection, translating concepts into clinically relevant prototypes.

He performed postdoctoral research at Stanford University, where he developed traction force microscopy tools to assess contractile function in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and investigated the role of tissue mechanics and fibrotic stiffening in genetic cardiomyopathies and premature cellular aging.

Since 2021, he leads the EPFL Bioengineering & Organoids Technology Platform at the AGORA Cancer Research Center in Lausanne. The open facility supports researchers with organoid and organ-on-chip technologies, liquid handling automation, imaging, and advanced assay development to accelerate cancer and translational research.