Tobias Wenzel
- Position
- Assistant Professor
- Academic unit
- Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering UC
- Lines of Research
- High-throughput cell-cell interaction analysis
- Microfluidics
- Optical bioimaging
- Organoid tissue engineering
- Summary
Dr. Tobias Wenzel is a bioengineer at the University of Cambridge whose team is developing the next generation of high-throughput technologies to address complex biomedical questions. To capture as much biological complexity as possible during experiments, he uses a technique called droplet microfluidics, in which tiny droplets of water serve as miniature laboratories. These droplets allow him to observe everything from individual molecules to cells, body microbes and tiny organs up close, especially how they work together. Thanks to the droplets and bioimaging, his team can study how millions of these elements interact at different levels, unlocking mysteries about the inner workings of our bodies at different scales. His team also develops accessible hardware for this research, so that scientists around the world can join, use and modify these exciting methods, making world-class science available to everyone.
- B.Sc., Technische Universitaet Berlin, Department of Physics, Germany, 2012.
- MSc in Physics, University of Cambridge, Department of Physics, England, 2013.
- PhD, University of Cambridge, Department of Physics, England, 2017.
Current Projects
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Expanding Global Access to Bioimaging (PI). Latin American Hub for
Bioimaging through Open Hardware (2021-2025). Principal Investigator. Amount of financing:
300,000 USD.
Fondecyt Regular (2024-2028). Advancing the Study of Host-Pathogen Interactions: A High-
Throughput Droplet Microfluidic Method for Gastric Organoids. Principal Investigator. Amount of
financing: 251,000,000 CLP.
CIFAR, CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human program. "CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar (2024-2026).
Principal Investigator. Amount of financing: 100,000 CA
Experiment.com, Crowd funding, Low-Cost Tools for Science. "Developing a low-cost, high-sensitivity
solution for phage concentration detection" (2023-2024). Principal Investigator. Amount of
financing: 10,000 USD.
Previous Projects
Fondecyt Initiation (2020-2023). "High Throughput Screening of Bacteria Clusters for effective
Pathogen Resistance in the Human Microbiome".