HeartSmart triumphs at Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2025

On World Laboratory Animal Day, HeartSmart, a team including one of our talented students, Isabel, won the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2025. Their innovative heart model, designed to study fibrosis (the stiffening of heart tissue) offers a groundbreaking, entirely animal-free approach to drug testing.

The €25,000 prize will support the team in bringing their pioneering technology to market. HeartSmart competed against strong contenders in neuroscience and organ-on-chip research.

We’re proud to celebrate this achievement and look forward to seeing HeartSmart’s work shape the future of heart disease research!

The HeartSmart team that competed at Proefdiervrij’s Venture Challenge