Developing better therapies for cancer starts with better models. For decades, researchers have relied on 2D cell cultures or animal models, even though these systems often fail to reflect the complexity of human tumors. As a result, many promising drug candidates fall short in clinical trials.
At the University of Florida, Dr. Janny Piñeiro is working to close this translational gap. As lead researcher under Dr. Rodrigo Cristofolleti, her team is engineering patient-derived cancer organoids using advanced 3D bioprinting approaches, including the RASTRUM™ platform, to develop high-throughput models that accelerate precision oncology research.
“Cancer research needs better models. Standard approaches like 2D cultures or animal studies often fail to capture what actually happens in patients, and that’s why so many drugs don’t translate,” Janny explains. “This is where engineers can play a big role—by building in vitro models that more closely mimic human physiology and improve drug screening.”
Using the RASTRUM platform, Janny’s group can precisely bioprint cancer cells and organoids into a 3D hydrogel matrix with tunable stiffness and composition. This control allows them to recreate key aspects of the tumor microenvironment — including stiffness, biochemical properties of the extracellular matrix, and localized drug exposure — all of which influence how tumors grow and respond to treatment.
“The printing process is so consistent that we reduce variability across experiments, which is key for reproducibility in drug testing,” she says. “We can now create mini-tumor models that behave more like patient tumors and respond differently depending on the conditions we set.”
This reproducibility is essential for high-throughput drug screening, where even small inconsistencies can derail insights.
One of the most important takeaways from Janny’s work has been the role of culture methods in reproducibility. While organoids grown in Matrigel and bioprinted organoids often yield comparable results, the RASTRUM workflow delivers faster setup and less variability, making it more practical for drug discovery.
Her team has also started exploring the response of 3D organoids to investigational therapies such as antibodies and large molecules. By incorporating immune components, they can study immune-dependent mechanisms, but even without them, the system provides new ways to explore immune-independent effects of these therapies.
Janny sees enormous potential for these models in both preclinical drug discovery and patient-specific precision medicine.
“In drug discovery, 3D organoids can help companies spot the most promising compounds earlier, which saves time, reduces costs, and improves success rates. At the same time, regulators like the FDA and EMA are encouraging the adoption of non-animal models, which makes organoids a strong fit,” she explains.
“In precision oncology, there’s the potential to grow organoids directly from patient biopsies and test different treatments before prescribing. When you combine that with high-throughput bioprinting and automation, it becomes realistic to scale this kind of personalized testing. That’s the exciting future.”
Janny will be sharing more about this research in her upcoming poster presentation at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) 2025 Annual Meeting, titled “Advancing Precision Oncology: Bio-printed Cancer Organoids for High-Throughput Drug Screening Platforms.”
At Inventia Life Science, we believe the future of drug discovery and precision oncology depends on models that are both biologically faithful and scalable. Janny’s work at the University of Florida is a powerful example of how researchers are already putting this vision into practice with RASTRUM technology.
By bridging the gap between traditional preclinical systems and human biology, engineered 3D models are not just advancing discovery — they are laying the foundation for patient-specific therapies that could transform cancer care.
Want to learn more? Explore our Cancer and Drug Discovery solutions or connect with our team to discuss how RASTRUM™ can support your 3D model development.