The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit that advances human-based science, and InSphero, the global leader in 3D in vitro technology for drug safety and efficacy testing, are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Human Advanced In Vitro Model Initiative (HUMAIN) Award. The HUMAIN Award recognizes researchers working to expand access to and accelerate the uptake of human-specific nonanimal approaches.

The five awardees of the HUMAIN Initiative are:

Dr. Burak Toprakhisar, Postdoctoral Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Project Title: Revealing the early cellular events in human liver inflammation by using HiPSC

This project aims to explore the initiation and progression of liver disease in a human stem cell-derived liver coculture model by revealing cellular stress activation pathways in real-time.

Dr. Felicia Gerst, Senior Scientist, University of Tübingen, Germany

Project Title: Impact of pancreatic adipose tissue on islet function

This project aims to better understand how ectopic fat impacts islet function (i.e., the regulation of metabolism and glucose control) and how pancreatic adipose tissues (ectopic fat) contribute to the onset of obesity-related type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Gabriela Kania, Principal Investigator, University Hospital of Zürich, Switzerland

Project Title: Exploring liver effects in a multi-organ-on-a-chip model of cardiac fibrosis across diverse experimental scenarios

This project aims to advance understanding of cardiac fibrosis, a condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the heart, and how the condition plays a role in liver function. The project will use a multi-organ-on-a-chip model of cardiac fibrosis to evaluate the impact on liver tissues under various experimental conditions and treatments.

Dr. Karina Orlowska, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michigan State University, United States

Project Title: Development of chemical safety screening by high-throughput sequencing

This project will develop a human-relevant scalable workflow for the mechanistic explanation and safety assessment of chemicals and drugs using high-throughput screening. This approach has the potential to provide a comprehensive view of cellular responses within a complex tissue-like context that would accelerate breakthroughs in disease modeling, drug development, and safety assessments.

Dr. Ute Wölfle, Principal Investigator and Senior Scientist, University of Freiburg, Germany

Project Title: Influencing the interaction of fatty liver spheroids and psoriasis keratinocytes by liver-protecting herbal remedies

This project aims to investigate whether liver-protecting therapeutics can reduce fatty liver inflammation as well as psoriasis inflammation. This study serves as a starting point to find the most promising herbal liver-protecting compounds that could be used in a later clinical trial to investigate how psoriasis and fatty liver-associated inflammation interact.

The five winning laboratories will receive:

• $20,000 USD toward InSphero technology (Akura™ Spheroid Microplates, 3D InSight™ Microtissues, ARCTis™ Cryo Microtissues) or services (3D InSight™ Services),
• Access to an inaugural one-day training course in the United States or Switzerland, with a $1,000 travel grant per award,
• Two hours of monthly consulting with InSphero experts,
• Up to $2,000 in travel grants to present findings at scientific conferences, and,
• $2,500 USD towards open access publication fees.

Within the HUMAIN Initiative, the Physicians Committee and InSphero will support the researchers in their project execution and presentation of scientific findings. The awardees will attend an onsite session at InSphero’s premises in Switzerland, where the 3D cell culture experts will lead a comprehensive hands-on training with the proprietary scalable and reproducible 3D in vitro tools for drug discovery research.

Stay tuned for future award announcements. For questions, email humainaward [at] pcrm.org (humainaward[at]pcrm[dot]org).