The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), partnered with the Wyss Institute at Harvard University to support the Institute in advancing its human Organ Chip platform and drug discovery capabilities to better understand the illness and injuries that result from a broad range of health security threats, including high doses of radiation, as well as predicting and evaluating potential treatments.
A collection of human Organ Chips, which have been developed by the team of Wyss Founding Director and Principal Investigator on the award, Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., over the past 15 years, have unique potential for filling this gap. Importantly, the recently passed FDA Modernization Act 2.0 enables the FDA to consider data generated in human in vitro models, including human Organ Chips, in lieu of animal data during new drug evaluations, thus potentially greatly accelerating the clinical advancement of life-saving medical countermeasures (MCMs).
