At the time of recording, Dr Michael Magnussen was a final year PhD student at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health. 

Michael’s focus over his studies has been to develop human tissue engineered models for heart development. The purpose of which is to overcome discrepancies between leading animal models such as mice and fish in favour of human models of tissue development. And to enhance global adoption of the three Rs; 

• Reduction; of the number of animals used in research
• Refinement; focusing on enhanced human focused modeling for the purpose of more accurate study of the human heart.
• Replacement; to develop methods which avoid or replace the use of animals. 

Since recording he has embarked on a post doc position at DanStem based at the University of Copenhagen where Michael is continuing his research in the field of stem cell biology. He is here with Louisa “Wizzi” Magnussen today to discuss The Business of Bioengineering…