Translational Experimental Surgery: Multi-System Disease Models from Mouse to Swine

Who we are
The Centre for Experimental Surgery at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) continues the work of Greece's first experimental surgery laboratory. Rather than offering a fixed catalogue of models, we join partners as scientific collaborators. Our veterinary surgeons and Laboratory Animal Science specialists take a research question and design, build and validate the surgical model that answers it, in any organ system and in the species that fits best. In 2022, an external evaluation committee described the Centre as "a gem", noting that "truly unique is the breadth of procedures and species". All work follows Directive 2010/63/EU and the 3Rs. GLP certification is in progress, so data can support progression to first-in-human studies.

Facilities

• Four dedicated operating rooms, one each for mice, rats, rabbits and swine

• Fluoroscopy for endovascular and image-guided procedures

• Housing for up to eight swine at a time

Scope of collaboration: all systems, all four species

• Cardiovascular: myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion and infarction, beating-heart Fontan circulation without cardiopulmonary bypass, supraceliac aortic cross-clamping, intracoronary delivery, atherosclerosis (ApoE⁻/⁻ mice, high-cholesterol rabbits), partial carotid ligation, hindlimb ischaemia

• Abdominal, hepatic and renal: partial hepatectomy and liver regeneration, cecal ligation and puncture (sepsis), unilateral ureteric obstruction, abdominal wall and hernia implants

• Oncology and immunology: syngeneic tumour models, immune-mediated and thrombotic disease (e.g. antiphospholipid syndrome), Toll-like receptor pathways

• Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering: decellularised scaffolds (small-diameter vessels, trachea, oesophagus, kidney, umbilical-cord tissues), orthotopic implantation, cell-based therapies, and in vivo bioprinting for bladder reconstruction in swine

• Drug–device combinations and medical devices: drug-coated balloons, radiofrequency endovascular devices (one commercialised), vascular grafts, implantable telemetry

• Scientific input throughout: hypothesis and study design, delivery route and pharmacokinetic planning, anaesthesia and analgesia, humane endpoints, and the regulatory authorisation dossier

International track record
We have long-standing collaborations with Hannover Medical School, Imperial College London (Hammersmith Hospital), Politecnico di Milano and CBSET Inc. (USA).

What we are looking for

• Contract and co-designed preclinical studies: Japanese pharma, biotech and medical-device companies that need translational or IND-enabling in vivo data, especially in large animals

• Regenerative medicine co-development: joint programmes on scaffolds, cell therapies and surgical delivery of engineered tissues

• EU research consortia: Japanese partners for Horizon Europe and EIC proposals