A new instrument to understand how immune cells work
Official title: Dynamic single-cell analysis instrument to evaluate immune cell function
Funded at Cellchorus INC. · NIH-11323428 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is developing a special instrument that uses advanced imaging and AI to watch individual immune cells in action, helping us understand how they fight diseases like cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cellchorus INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | May 1, 2023 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $56,415 |
| NIH project number | 3R44GM149106-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11323428 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project is developing a research tool and does not directly involve patient participation at this stage, but future applications could benefit patients receiving cell-based therapies.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not undergoing or considering cell-based immune therapies would not directly benefit from this specific instrument development.
What this research studies
This project focuses on building Chronos, a dedicated instrument designed to work with the CellChorus TIMING platform. The TIMING platform allows scientists to place cells in tiny wells and then rapidly take time-lapse images over several hours. These images are then analyzed by AI to understand how cells behave, which is especially useful for studying immune cells like CAR T cells. The goal is to make it easier for researchers to use this technology to identify the most effective immune cells for treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this instrument could help identify more effective immune cells for therapies, potentially leading to better treatments for patients with conditions like cancer.
How similar studies have gone: The underlying TIMING technology has shown promising results in identifying potent CAR T cells, as highlighted by a recent publication in Nature Cancer.
Where this research is happening
-
Cellchorus INC.
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cooper, Laurence J.n. — Cellchorus INC.
- Study coordinator: Cooper, Laurence J.n.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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LF-TIMING: Large-scale profiling of cell-cell interactions with label-free imaging
A new high-throughput method to map how immune cells talk to tumor cells and how they move, contact, and kill targets without using labels.
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TIMING: AI-powered single-cell analysis to improve cell therapies
A patient-facing platform using AI to understand how individual immune cells behave in real time during cell therapy manufacturing, helping create safer and more effective treatments.
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Dynamic single-cell analysis instrument ready to help labs map how individual cells behave
Aimed at bringing Chronos™—a specialized single-cell timing instrument—into broader use so researchers can watch thousands of live cells and link their behavior to molecular data.
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Understanding how immune cells behave to improve cell therapies
This study is working on a new way to closely watch and understand immune cells used in treatments, so we can see how they behave and grow, helping doctors predict how well these therapies might work for patients before they start.
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Advanced Technology to Understand Immune Cell Behavior
This project is creating a new technology that uses advanced imaging and artificial intelligence to better understand how individual immune cells work and interact, which can help develop new treatments.
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Profiling how immune cells interact with tumor cells
This study is testing a new way to look at how immune cells and tumor cells interact, which could help us understand cancer better and improve treatments for patients like you.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.