Regenerative Research Foundation Named a Winner in NIH’s Complement-ARIE Challenge
Award recognizes innovative human brain “assembloid” technology designed to improve drug development while reducing
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The Regenerative Research Foundation today announced that its Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI) has been named a Phase 1 winner in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Complement-ARIE Reduction to Practice (RTP) Challenge.
The Complement-ARIE RTP Challenge, sponsored by the NIH in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Tournament Lab, supports the development of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). NAMs are advanced human-based technologies designed to complement or replace traditional animal testing. By integrating multiple approaches into more predictive research models, these technologies have the potential to improve drug development, better predict human responses, and accelerate the adoption of more effective alternatives to animal studies.
NSCI’s winning proposal, “Multi-Brain Region Assembloid Combinatorial Models,” builds on the Institute’s expertise in generating brain region-specific organoids from human stem cells. By combining these organoids into complex assembloids, researchers recreate critical interactions between multiple brain regions that play essential roles in human brain development, function, and disease.
These human-relevant assembloid models enable researchers to evaluate both the safety and therapeutic potential of drug candidates with greater biological relevance than conventional laboratory models. Because they can be produced at scale, the models have the potential to accelerate the development of therapies for complex neurological diseases while providing a more predictive alternative to traditional animal testing.
The project was led by Dr. Jeff Stern and a multidisciplinary team from NSCI, including Dr. Sally Temple, Dr. Taylor Bertucci, Steven Lotz, Dr. Catherine Hamann, Dr. Thomas Kiehl, Kristina Roberts, and Dr. Michelle Lewis.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from the NIH,” said Dr. Stern, Director of Translational Research at NSCI. “Our goal is to develop human-relevant brain models that better reflect the complexity of the human nervous system and provide researchers with more predictive tools for evaluating new therapies. By combining multiple brain region organoids into functional assembloids, we believe we can help accelerate drug development for neurological diseases while advancing the broader movement toward reducing reliance on animal models.”
The NIH recognition reflects growing momentum across the biomedical research community to adopt advanced human-based technologies that can improve preclinical research and strengthen confidence in drug safety and efficacy before clinical studies.
To view the full list of Complement-ARIE Challenge winners, visit https://www.herox.com/Complement-ARIE-RTP/373-meet-the-phase-1-winners
About the Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI)
The Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI) is the first independent, non-profit stem cell research institute in the United States. NSCI is dedicated to harnessing the power of stem cells to understand brain development, uncover mechanisms of central nervous system disease, and develop novel therapeutics to restore function. Learn more at www.neuralsci.org or visit our LinkedIn page.
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