Farmer Family Challenge Grant Seeks to Accelerate Organoid Technology

Foundation pledges an additional $5M to support work at Cincinnati Children’s to make promising lab-grown tissues ready for human transplantation

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Not long ago, the idea of growing human organ tissue in a lab dish seemed like the plot of a science-fiction movie. Nevertheless, scientists at Cincinnati Children’s have made dramatic progress at doing exactly that, and now they are working to make intestinal organoid tissue ready to begin human clinical trials.

Organoids are miniature organs grown from a patient’s own cells and they are a revolutionary platform for understanding disease, developing new personalized treatments and, ultimately, generating tissue for transplantation.

This work has received a powerful boost thanks to a new $5 million challenge grant awarded by the Farmer Family Foundation to the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM). This funding continues support that began in 2016 with the Farmer family’s initial $1 million gift for tissue engineering. This was followed by their first $5 million challenge grant in 2018 to establish and name the CuSTOM Accelerator Lab.

“The CuSTOM Accelerator provides a runway to develop, manufacture and deliver innovative stem cell and organoid-based research tools,” says Aaron Zorn, PhD, the organoid center’s director. “The Farmer Family Foundation’s initial support was crucial to our work. The Foundation’s generous new gift will further accelerate our efforts to bring organoid technology into drug development and to support the extensive preparations needed to allow organoid tissues to be transplanted in humans.”

Currently, a team led by Michael Helmrath, MD, is working to scale up recent advances in intestinal organoid development in preparation for potential human clinical trials.

“When we first met Dr. Zorn and Dr. Helmrath, we were impressed by both the innovative research, and the passion they had to pursue these breakthroughs on behalf of their patients,” says Mary J. Farmer, trustee of the Farmer Family Foundation.

Today, more than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant. Sadly, 17 people die every day while waiting because the supply of donated human organs is so limited.

Organoid research is one promising approach for addressing the global transplantation shortage. While it will still be years before full-sized organs can be grown in lab settings, smaller amounts of tissue grown in this way may help repair damaged organs to either delay or eliminate the need for a transplant. Importantly, experts grow organoids from a patient’s own cells, which means recipients will not need the anti-rejection treatments required when using donated organs.

As a challenge grant, the medical center has five years to match the gift with investments from other donors. Contributions can be made at Give Now: CuSTOM or by contacting James Cleetus at 513-636-1166 or james.cleetus@cchmc.org.

“This is a key moment in transforming care for children and adults with organ-damaging diseases. We want to encourage others to help speed up the movement of organoid medicine from the lab to directly benefiting patients in need. Experts at Cincinnati Children’s are at the forefront of developing these technologies and we are proud to support their groundbreaking work,” says Amy F. Joseph, Farmer Family Foundation trustee.

Breakthroughs in organoid technology at Cincinnati Children’s trace back to December 2010, when scientists here reported success in the journal Nature at growing functional 3D intestinal organoid spheroids in the lab. Since then, teams here have reported a long string of successes, including improving the sophistication of intestine organoids, grown and improving the world’s first functioning stomach and esophagus tissues, establishing methods for mass producing liver organoids and demonstrating that nerves and immune systems can be introduced to these mini-organs.

Read more about organoid research at Cincinnati Children’s.

The Farmer Family Foundation is diligent in identifying programs with the potential to make a significant impact and transform peoples’ lives. The focus is on philanthropic investments that meet essential community needs and those that ensure Greater Cincinnati is thriving. The Foundation prioritizes investments in efforts that enhance K-12 education for at-risk individuals and enable economic self-sufficiency. Beyond the greater Cincinnati area, investments are selectively made to support health care research. Trustees – Joyce B. Farmer, Brynne F. and Bob Coletti, Scott and Mary Farmer, Amy F. and George Joseph.