The Elvira Lab specialises in developing microfluidic technologies to build designer artificial cells and tissues. New drugs take 10-15 years to develop, cost ~2.6 billion USD each and many fail because we cannot predict how they interact with human cells. We build designer artificial cells on a chip the size of a postage stamp that mimic live cells. This is important because we can use them to test new drugs early in the drug discovery process and see whether they are likely to work or not. Our artificial cells are designed to give us insight into, for example, how cancer drugs behave in cells.

We are experts in many different types of microfluidic technologies, use our artificial cells to build artificial tissues and even dabble in making beer on a chip! If you are interested in our research, here we highlight some of our recent media interactions. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Challenges and opportunities in achieving the full potential of droplet interface bilayers
E. B. Stephenson,* J. L. Korner* & K. S. Elvira, Nature Chemistry, 2022, 14, 862

Artificial cells can be used to mimic features of living cells so that we can easily study how they work. Here we discuss droplet interface bilayers as a new and versatile cell membrane model, how they can be used in wide-ranging applications from drug discovery to biochemistry, and the challenges that remain to enable these model membranes to reach their full potential.

Biomimetic artificial cells to model the effect of membrane asymmetry on chemoresistance
E. B. Stephenson & K. S. Elvira, Chemical Communications, 2021, 57, 6534

The cell membrane changes during the course of diseases such as cancer, and this affects the movement of drugs into cells. Here we use our bespoke artificial cells to model this change in cell membranes on a microfluidic device. Our artificial cells are custom-built to model cancer cells. We show that this breakdown in the cell membrane might help explain why we develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs such as Doxorubicin. This paper was highlighted as part of the Emerging Investigators Collection in Chemical Communications.

Programmed assembly of bespoke prototissues on a microfluidic platform
K. Ramsay, J. Levy, P. Gobbo & K. S. Elvira, Lab on a Chip, 2021, 21, 4574

Here we make artificial tissues (prototissues) from artificial cells (protocells) that have collective behaviours. Our microfluidic platform allows us to control the exact composition of the prototissues. This means that we can control the physical and chemical behaviour of this soft material and we can identify how these behaviours depend on protocell composition. This paper chosen by the editor to be featured as part of the Lab on a Chip HOT Articles 2021 themed collection.

A plug-and-play modular microcapillary platform for the generation of multicompartmental double emulsions using glass or fluorocarbon capillaries
K. Ramsay,* S. Farley* & K. S. Elvira, Lab on a Chip, 2021, 21, 2781

Would you like to use microfluidic technologies in your lab? This is not easy to do if you do not have a background in developing and using microfluidic devices. Here we have developed a plug-and-play microfluidic device that uses off-the-shelf components to make the actual device. They are held together using ``junction boxes'' cast from moulds fabricated using a bench-top 3D printer. Using such a simple set-up we can make complex droplet-within-droplet systems. Get in touch if you want to try one out in your lab, we might be able to mail you some junction boxes.

A bespoke microfluidic pharmacokinetic compartment model for drug absorption using artificial cell membranes
J. L. Korner,* E. B. Stephenson* & K. S. Elvira, Lab on a Chip, 2020, 20, 1898

How can we predict whether a potential new drug will enter human cells? We have developed a microfluidic device to create bespoke artificial cells made from the same molecules (phospholipids) that make up human intestinal cells. We can quantify how a drug proxy travels from the intestine, into an intestinal cell and into the blood stream. Our initial tests shows that our new model outperforms the current commercial technique. This paper was highlighted as part of the Emerging Investigators collection in Lab on a Chip.

Droplet confinement and leakage: Causes, underlying effects, and amelioration strategies
A. P. Debon, R. C. R. Wootton & K. S. Elvira, Biomicrofluidics, 2015, 9, 024119

A roadblock in the use of microfluidic platforms in commercial settings is the surprising lack of fundamental research into the stability of micro-droplets. They are often assumed to be self-contained and independent reaction vessels, but our research shows that the stability of droplets is highly affected by the surfactant used, its concentration, the device surface, flow rates and droplet storage conditions. We also provide a poster of the 20 droplet failure modes we identified, together with amelioration strategies that can be used to troubleshoot them in the lab.