Grant: Project Grant

As the spending on drug development increases over the past 20 years, the number of drugs approved annually has, in fact, declined. To curb the high cost of drug development, three-dimensional (3D) cellular models could offer greater predictivity to drug functions. However, many sophisticated 3D tissue models are static in nature and lack blood vessels and dynamic blood perfusion that are so prevalent in the human body. This is a key limitation we seek to address. We developed a unique fabrication technique (referred to as 4-D subtractive manufacturing) where a flexible, shape-changing sacrificial material was used to engineer an organ-specific blood vessel network and tubular network that resembles the native organ systems. A large array of these engineered networks can be fabricated and easily connected to an array of fluid source to establish physiological-like blood perfusion. This platform (SynoPlate) will be easy to use by non-experts. To provide the scientific foundation for the use of SynoPlate in academic research labs and for drug discovery in pharmaceutical company, we propose to develop four new biological models that can capture the key physiological functions of human organ-specific vasculature, kidney, lung, and placenta by working with three clinical partners who specialize in these organ systems. Success from this proposed research could significantly enhance Canada's standing in this emerging market that could fundamentally disrupt how we approach drug development and the study of fundamental biology in the future.