Six projects selected for WARF/MilliporeSigma Challenge Grant
CONTACT:
Jeanan Yasiri Moe
Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs
[email protected] | (608) 960-9892
MADISON, Wis. – What if scientists could predict how a drug will perform in humans without relying on animal testing? Six UW-Madison research teams are working to make that future a reality, with $245,000 in funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and $45,000 in in-kind support from MilliporeSigma through the Non-Animal Drug Testing Challenge Grant.
The challenge grant sought bold ideas for evaluating drug safety and effectiveness without relying on traditional animal models. Together, the funded projects explore some of the most promising frontiers in biomedical research, including organoids, organ-on-chip systems, advanced biomaterials and artificial intelligence, with the goal of developing more accurate, human-relevant approaches to testing potential therapies.
“At MilliporeSigma, we’re committed to helping researchers advance smarter, more human-relevant testing models that better predict how drug candidates will perform,” says Karen Madden, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at MilliporeSigma. “These six UW-Madison teams are advancing that shared goal through organoid, organ-on-chip and AI-driven platforms that could make drug testing safer and support more personalized patient care. We congratulate them and are proud to support their work with WARF.”
Funded projects:
A Rapid Six-Dimensional Human Organoid Model for Hepatoxicant Classification
Christopher Bradfield (Oncology)
Onco-Avatar – A 3D iPSC-Based Organoid Platform for Next-Generation Precision Oncology
Taeyoung Shin (CBSRI), Tanja Dominko (Surgery), Brent Lehman (Biotechnology Center), Dustin Rubinstein (Biotechnology Center), Eric Schmuck (Biomedical Engineering)
SP-139 Synthetic Hydrogel Combined with Patient-Derived Plasma for Defined, Animal-Free Patient-Derived Organoid Drug Response Profiling
Jeremy Kratz (Chemical & Biological Engineering), Md Shahadat (Medicine)
Three-Dimensional and Perfused Human Blood-Brain Barrier Model
Mai Ngo (CBSRI)
Biomimetic Human Vascularized Liver on a Chip Platform for Modeling Liver Physiology, Diseases and Drug-induced Toxicity
Duc-Huy Nguyen (Medicine)
AIMODO: AI-Based Discovery of Marker Genes for Optimizing Disease Organoids
Daifeng Wang (Waisman Center), Xinyu Zhao (Neuroscience)
“UW-Madison researchers are leading the development of new technologies that could redefine drug development,” says WARF CEO Erik Iverson. “Together with MilliporeSigma, we’re proud to support novel approaches that have the potential to make drug testing more predictive, efficient and relevant to human health.”
About WARF
Incorporated in 1925, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) patents and licenses discoveries from UW-Madison research, manages an investment portfolio generated from licensing and investment proceeds, and provides annual grants to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to support further scientific investigation and research. By driving collaborations among researchers, investors, industry and entrepreneurs, WARF commercializes innovations from campus through various initiatives. WARF Accelerator improves the commercialization potential of university intellectual property through industry engagement and investment in proof-of-concept milestones to validate market potential, demonstrate commercial value and de-risk technology. WARF Therapeutics partners with UW-Madison and Morgridge Institute researchers employing an industry-focused approach to improve the value propositions of drug candidates. WARF Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests in startups based on UW/WARF technologies. Learn more at warf.org.
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