MRC Novel Human in Vitro Models of Complex Disease

Funding to lead a cluster as part of a coordinated network for novel human in vitro models of complex disease.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is running this opportunity with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to support three clusters as part of a coordinated network that will drive the development, validation and adaptation of advanced, complex and highly specific human in vitro disease models for ready adoption by end users in academia, industry or both.

The network for novel human in vitro models of complex disease will aim to:

• Improve understanding of human disease mechanisms and better support therapeutic development for disease intervention.
• Overcome limitations of current in vivo and in vitro models to represent human (patho) physiology and disease heterogeneity.
• Accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to accurately and reproducibly model human physiology and disease and reduce the reliance on animal models.

The novel human in vitro models are expected to increase mechanistic understanding of disease, including disease progression over time, from healthy state to disease emergence to tissue and organ failure and enable clinical translation, including drug development and testing.

Applicants must articulate an ambitious programme of proposed work with the aim to understand human disease physiology and the clear potential to catalyse a step change in the development and validation of human in vitro model(s) in a relevant biomedical context. If the experimental design necessitates the development of healthy human reference model(s) as a prerequisite for the development and validation of disease model(s), this is within the scope of the funding opportunity.

An individual cluster may focus on specific disease areas of high unmet need or may address common needs with relevance to multiple disease domains which may include, but not limited to:

• Extracellular matrix complexity and structure.
• Vascularization.
• Immune regulation.
• Tissue crosstalk.

The scope of a cluster is expected to expand on the validation, adaptation and adoption of novel or existing models across an area of unmet need rather than focus on the development of an entirely new model.

End-user involvement should be considered from the start, and collaborations are strongly encouraged with both small and large companies as well as academic and clinical researchers, as relevant to the cluster challenge. Industry partnerships are not mandatory, however where relevant, should be mutually beneficial in line with MRC’s Industry Collaboration framework, and industry partners can provide cash or in-kind contribution to the cluster as appropriate.

The duration of each awarded cluster is expected to be four years. Projects should start by 1 September 2025.