Organs-on-Chips contain tiny hollow channels lined by living human cells that recreate the physical and mechanical environment experienced by cells within the human body.

The research team will use Emulate's new Lung-Chips models to compare the effects of plasma from severe Covid-19 patients and healthy controls on human lung cells. Professor Pennington, said: "As we continue to learn more about Covid-19, it's becoming clear that the virus doesn't only damage the lungs. Recent studies have shown that it may also affect blood vessels suggesting that there is an important vascular component to this disease."

"We hope to use this donation from Emulate, Inc to investigate how Covid-19 disrupts the interactions between endothelial cells that cover the surface of blood vessels and epithelial cells lining the lungs. Our findings could help to uncover new targets for potential therapeutic interventions against the disease."