Lab-Made Mini Organs Speed Up Disease Treatments

The field of personalized medical treatment is undergoing a significant revolution with the development of 'organoids', miniature human organs grown in laboratories using patients' own cells. This cutting-edge technology allows researchers to study diseases and test potential therapies on an individualized basis, paving the way for truly personalized patient care. 
 
Leading this innovative research is Curtin University's Western Australian Organoid Innovation Hub (WAOIH), funded by over $500,000 from the WA Government's Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund-EEnabling Scheme. The hub aims to make organoid research more efficient and effective through advanced imaging technologies combined with machine learning for quick and accurate image analysis. 
 
Dr. Ben Dwyer, lead researcher at WAOIH, believes that organoids represent an excellent model for studying human biology and disease due to their ability to mimic real human organs better than traditional cell cultures. "We currently use organoids in the context of liver cancer to better understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments,"  says Dr. Dwyer. He also highlighted how organoids could be used for large-scale screening experiments aimed at repurposing approved compounds for cancer treatment. 
 
One major advantage of using organoids lies in their origin: they are made from a patient’s own cells, which means they can be used effectively in determining which treatments will work best or cause side effects specific to each patient. This opens up unprecedented opportunities for personalizing medicine according to individual needs. 
 
Since establishing a liver cancer platform based on this technology, there has been increasing demand within the scientific community for broadening its application across various other diseases and cancers. To meet this demand, WAOIH aims at automating its imaging processes, allowing it to conduct multiple experiments simultaneously, thereby speeding up results. 
 
In addition, collaborations have been established between WAOIH and institutions like the National Drug Discovery Centre in Melbourne as well as the Human Organoid Innovation Hub located in Calgary, Canada; these partnerships provide access to not only national screening programs but also global experts, thereby amplifying WAOIH's international impact in developing new treatments. 
 
The hub’s partners include the Cancer Research Trust, Perkins Cancer Biobank, the Australian Centre for RNA Therapeutics in Cancer, Cell and Tissue Therapies WA, and the WA Data Science Innovation Hub based at Curtin. The foundation of WAOIH was laid on the Patient-Derived Organoid Drug Screening Platform of the Liver Cancer Collaborative, established in 2021, which expanded due to funding from various sources, including the Ian Potter Foundation and the Minderoo Foundation, among others. 
 
Dr. Dwyer is optimistic about these developments, stating that they would help position Western Australia as a leader in innovative drug discovery by creating a state-of-the-art pipeline for providing personalized precision medicine to patients across the globe. This advancement marks an exciting chapter in medical research, with potential far-reaching impacts on healthcare outcomes around the world.