Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory are part of multi-disciplinary teams that won $60 million in ARPA-H funding to study 3-D tumor models and personalized drugs.
(Farmington, Conn. – Nov. 12, 2024) The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) is a partner in two major projects funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), with a combined $60 million investment aimed at advancing biomedical research through data-driven approaches and AI. These initiatives involve interdisciplinary teams focused on developing cutting-edge technologies to tackle cancer treatment and optimize drug prescriptions.
The two high-risk, high-reward projects are currently underway: one aims to develop an automated platform for producing personalized 3D cancer models, while the other focuses on exploring how individual differences influence drug metabolism and responses.
3D Cancer Models
One project, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and supported by $21 million in ARPA-H funding, involves creating a new automated platform to generate three-dimensional cancer models. Edison T. Liu, M.D., professor and President Emeritus at JAX, is contributing his decades of expertise in breast cancer, technological innovation and quantitative science to this effort. Traditionally, cancer studies rely on 2D cultures or animal models that don't fully capture the complexity of human tumors. In recent years, scientists have turned to organoids—3D clusters that better mimic the behavior of human tissue—but organoids present challenges.
“The problem with current organoids is that they are slow to grow and difficult to scale,” said Liu. “To make an impact in cancer research, we need to be able to produce thousands of organoids quickly.”
This project aims to address these issues using AI and robotics, enabling an automated system to grow tumor cells in 3D cultures and monitor growth patterns to optimize conditions. The core focus is on overcoming the engineering challenges of scaling organoid production and biological sensing. Liu’s team will provide translational expertise in defining the conditions by which these organoids will optimally grow and how they can be best used. By streamlining organoid production, researchers could study multiple drugs’ effects on various tumor types more efficiently and develop personalized cancer therapies by rapidly growing and analyzing an individual patient’s tumor cells.
Personalized Drug Responses
JAX associate professor Shuzhao Li is also collaborating on a $39.5 million ARPA-H-funded project led by Columbia University, called IndiPHARM (Individual Metabolome and Exposome Assessment for Pharmaceutical Optimization). This initiative seeks to understand individual variability in drug responses. Currently, the mechanisms of drug efficacy are often not understood during the approval process.
“There are all sorts of factors that influence how someone metabolizes and responds to drugs,” Li explained. “Their genetics, diet, and environmental exposure all play a role.”
Li’s team will collaborate with researchers from Columbia, Emory, Brown, Harvard and Mayo Clinic to analyze blood samples from patients with metabolic disorders. The new data are from metabolomics and exposomics, biochemical profiles that reflect the body’s state. Using mass spectrometry, they can detect drug metabolites and molecules that offer insights into an individual’s microbiome, diet, and exposure to pollutants. These data could reveal how different factors affect drug metabolism and efficacy, potentially leading to more effective, personalized treatments.
Advancing Biology Through Technology
ARPA-H’s support for these high-risk, high-reward initiatives reflects its mission to drive biomedical breakthroughs. By embracing innovative approaches like AI, robotics, and computational biology, these projects have the potential to transform cancer treatment and drug prescription, paving the way for a future where medical treatments are increasingly personalized.
“These projects both highlight a fundamental belief at JAX that technology will advance biology,” said Liu. “JAX has a long history of using quantitative science and new technologies to further biology; so it is not surprising that we are being tapped to support projects in which biologists must interface with engineers and navigate technology development.”
As JAX and its collaborators begin these ambitious projects, the goal is clear: to bridge technology and biology in ways that bring tangible health benefits. With the backing of ARPA-H, these efforts represent a significant step toward personalized medicine and improved health outcomes for patients worldwide.
About The Jackson Laboratory
The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and more than 3,000 employees in locations across the United States, Japan and China. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and to empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.
JAX media contact: Cara McDonough, cara.mcdonough@jax.org, 919-696-3854