Utrecht Platform for Organoid Technology

The Utrecht Platform for Organoid Technology (UPORT) is a central facility within UMC Utrecht that supports researchers in setting up and using living biobanks of healthy and diseased human tissues. These biobanks are typically generated using organoid and induced pluripotent stem cell technologies and support disease modelling, personalized medicine and translational research.

UPORT provides practical and logistical support throughout the full tissue acquisition process. This includes writing patient inclusion protocols, submitting protocols for ethical review, selecting eligible patients, conducting inclusion interviews, obtaining informed consent and arranging the logistical pathways needed to collect human tissue and associated clinical data.

The facility supports researchers working with different types of patient-derived material, including tumor tissue, healthy tissue, blood, urine, ascites, Pap smears, nasal brushes and other relevant biological samples. UPORT also maintains an annotated living biobank catalogue that helps researchers find and request available organoids, patient-derived biological materials and supplementary clinical or cohort-specific data.

In addition to biobank access and tissue logistics, UPORT offers hands-on support for setting up state-of-the-art organoid culture technologies. The facility can facilitate organoid cell culture training at the Laboratory of Translational Oncology, helping researchers apply organoid technology in their own lab.

UPORT supports both cancer and non-cancer research, including living biobanks for multiple cancer types, airway disease models and intestinal disease models. Researchers can use UPORT services to access fresh human tissue, develop organoid-based disease models, reuse existing biobank materials and connect with expertise in patient-derived model systems.

Services and support

• Support for cancer, airway and intestinal organoid biobank projects
• Patient inclusion protocol writing and submission for ethical evaluation
• Patient selection based on inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Inclusion interviews and informed consent procedures
• Logistical coordination for obtaining fresh human tissue and biological samples
• Collection and management of associated clinical patient data
• Access to an annotated living biobank catalogue
• Support in finding and requesting available organoids and patient-derived materials
• Hands-on support for setting up organoid culture technologies
• Organoid cell culture training at the Laboratory of Translational Oncology