Regenerative and reconstructive cardiovascular medicine
Sustainable & Industrial Tissue Engineering (SITE) group
Research focus
The Sustainable & Industrial Tissue Engineering (SITE) group at Maastricht University operates within the Department of Physiology, FHML-CARIM's Division of Vessels. SITE focuses on pioneering & interdisciplinary research, integrating (vascular) cell biology with advanced tissue bioengineering to address challenges in cell-material interaction in the field of regenerative medicine and cellular agriculture.
Breakthrough achievements
Founded by Prof. em. Mark Post, SITE gained global recognition for creating the first cultured meat hamburger in 2013, sparking the cellular agriculture industry and leading to SITE spin-offs Mosa Meat (cultured beef) and Qorium (lab-grown leather).
SITE is also co-organizer of the annual International Scientific Conference on Cultured Meat, and (together with UM-MERLN CTR) an academic member of Cellular Agriculture Netherlands.
Projects & collaborations
We specialize in (vascular) tissue engineering, biocompatibility testing and (stem) cell differentiation. Our expertise encompasses functional cell-based assays, 3D tissue models, and biomaterial and (sustainable) upscaling innovations. Current projects include B-SMARTT! on additive manufacturing (AM) for sustainable materials; and Poly-DREAM, exploring novel polymers in 3D printing and advanced AM.
Actively collaborating with regional universities and institutes l(e.g. ULiège, UHasselt, DWI, UGent and UAntwerpen, Fraunhofer IPT, LIOF), SITE also fosters public-private partnerships to advance biomedical industrial technologies (e.g. Additive Mindset, Tenco DDM, MeoTec, IamFluidics, Mosa Meat and Qorium).
The team
- Dr. Daniel Molin: Principal researcher and expert in project coordination and public-private partnerships with extensive experience in vascular research and EU project management
- Prof. em. Mark Post: Founding PI and tissue engineering pioneer
- Mick Gagliardi, BSc: Biomaterials specialist focusing on cell assays, 3D printing and material-cell interactions
- Dr. Nynke van den Akker: Principal researcher specializing in (vascular) bioengineering and (stem) cell differentiation
- Students: We are always looking for enthusiastic students to strengthen our team!
Future directions
We advance towards scalable bioengineering and circular materials with high societal impact, using a multidisciplinary approach. Strong public-private partnerships are essential, as this bridges our research with real-world applications, enabling transformative technologies for a sustainable future.