Understanding Organ Rejection After Transplant Using Tiny Organ Models
Official title: Vascularized liver-heart on-a-chip modeling antibody-mediated rejection and tolerance of allografts
Funded at Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation · NIH-11169690 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to create miniature organ models to better understand why some transplanted organs are rejected by the body's immune system.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Woodland Hills, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | August 14, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $611,129 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI183529-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11169690 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This foundational research is relevant to patients who have received or may receive organ transplants, particularly those at risk for or experiencing antibody-mediated rejection.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not involved in organ transplantation or related conditions would not directly benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
Organ transplantation offers a new lease on life for many, but it often requires lifelong medication to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. Even with these medications, some patients develop donor-specific antibodies that can lead to a serious problem called antibody-mediated rejection, causing the transplanted organ to fail. This project will develop a new 'organ-on-a-chip' technology, combining tiny liver and heart models, to study how these antibodies cause rejection. By creating these advanced models, we hope to uncover the specific ways antibodies harm transplanted organs.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to a deeper understanding of organ rejection, potentially helping to identify patients at higher risk and develop new ways to prevent or treat rejection without relying solely on lifelong immunosuppression.
How similar studies have gone: While organs-on-a-chip models exist for various human organs, this project is novel in its aim to specifically model antibody-mediated rejection in a multi-organ system.
Where this research is happening
-
Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation
Woodland Hills, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Jucaud, Vadim — Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation
- Study coordinator: Jucaud, Vadim
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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.