David Barata is a senior scientist with a rich background in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Biomaterials, and Microfluidics. His research interests primarily focuses on developing innovative in vitro models through organ-on-a-chip technology, particularly in the areas of skeletal muscle and bone diseases, bronchial viral infections and associated pathologies. David's expertise extends to micro tissue engineering, specifically through the design and manufacturing of instructive biomaterials using photolithography and, in particular, 2-photon polymerization.

David is currently engaged in highly multidisciplinary projects at Maastricht University, dividing his work between Department of Complex Tissue Engineering with Dr. Carlos Mota, MERLN, and the Department of Respiratory Medicine with Prof. Dr. Ramon Langen, NUTRIM. His current research projects focuses on establishing clinically relevant assays to study sarcopenia on-chip (within NUTRIM) and developing microfluidic bioprinted advanced cell culture models to study nephrotoxicity and bone disease (within MERLN).