Friday, October 31, 2025 10/31/2025

Leveraging 3D bioprinted organoid constructs to pattern and model human brain development

Award Number: R01MH126195
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Leveraging 3D bioprinted organoid constructs to pattern and model human brain development - Project Summary In addition to significant human distress, neurological disorders cost the U.S. economy more than $1.5 trillion per year—8.8 percent of the gross domestic product. This physical, emotional and financial burden underscores the potential benefit from developing innovative platforms to study brain development, physiology, and associated diorders. The advent of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived 3D cortical organoid cultures has shown great promise as a model system, yet there remain a number of technical limitations that have stymied their ability to recapitulate critical non-cell autonomous aspects of human brain development. These components include extrinsic influences of the extracellular matrix (ECM), skull, and axial morphogen gradients that together help shape and diversify regions of the developing brain. Currently, standard organoid protocols involve embedding organoids in Matrigel droplets or in suspended bath culture, which prevents reproducible user-control of the extracellular environment. This limits the ability to create morphogen gradients that topographically polarize stem cells, or to ask how molecular and physical properties of the ECM outside the brain parenchyma guide neurodevelopment. To address these challenges, we propose developing 3D bioprinted cortical organoid constructs that recapitulate key microenvironmental cues of native brain tissue. This project builds upon our recent technological achievements, enabling embedded bioprinting of custom tissue constructs at high spatial resolution (20 µm) specifically designed for long-term organoid culture. Our goal is to bioprint cortical brain organoids into 3D scaffolds with customizable molecular and physiomechanical compositions. The synergy of brain organoid and bioprinting technologies provides a nearly unlimited potential to manipulate extrinsic developmental cues of a complex multicellular human model system. We will pursue two integrated Specific Aims using the multi-PI leadership mechanism to combine complementary research skills and expertise in the Sloan (neurodevelopment) and Serpooshan (tissue engineering) laboratories. In Aim 1, we will decouple the molecular composition and physical stiffness paramaters of the ECM, and ask how these factors influence neural development, differentiation, maturation and architecture. In Aim 2, we will use three separate approaches to generate a stable morphogen gradient within bioprinted constructs, which we will use to induce intra-organoid polarization of both dorsal (pallial) and ventral (subpallial) regional identities. Together, these approaches offer a novel platform for 3D stem cell modeling that could be applied broadly to numerous systems and usher a new generation of neurodevelopmental modeling.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $687,438 )
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	5	1/24/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$584,323
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	5	9/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$103,115
														Subtotal = $687,438

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $686,465 )
2024	2024	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	4	1/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$617,820
2024	2024	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	4	8/14/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$68,645
														Subtotal = $686,465

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $617,025 )
2023	2023	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	1/18/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$617,025
														Subtotal = $617,025

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $650,538 )
2022	2022	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	6/21/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$65,055
2022	2022	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	1/13/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$585,483
2022	2021	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	1	8/31/2022	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $650,538

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $680,146 )
2021	2021	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	5/5/2021	NEW	$68,013
2021	2021	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	3/30/2021	NEW	$612,133
														Subtotal = $680,146

Grand Total All Awards = $3,321,612

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Leveraging 3D bioprinted organoid constructs to pattern and model human brain development

Award Number: R01MH126195

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2026

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer