An official website of the United States government
For 50 years, NIA has invested in emerging technologies to help advance aging research. Today, an evolving scientific area of interest is in vitro models, including microphysiological systems (MPS), to complement animal studies for preclinical drug development.
What are microphysiological systems?
MPS are three-dimensional constructs of cells or tissues that can recreate multi-organ interactions in a space smaller than a U.S. quarter. They are also known as organoids, tissue explants, tissue chips, or organs-on-a-chip. We are excited about MPS because of their potential to replicate human aging as an additional/novel testing platform alongside animal models, which may help accelerate studies of age-related diseases and associated drug targets. To learn more about NIA’s MPS interests, check out this cleared research concept .
Space: An aging research frontier
NIA’s investment in MPS technology takes many shapes, from small business programs to our participation in the Tissue Chips in Space 2.0 funding opportunity that is led by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). NIA collaborates with NCATS for MPS-based studies — aboard the International Space Station — on the mechanisms of accelerated physiological and molecular changes experienced by astronauts that resemble earthbound aging-related changes such as sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) and inflammation.
Expanding the NIH portfolio of aging research technologies
In addition to MPS, other NIA-supported emerging technologies include — but are not limited to — image analysis and computer vision; bioengineering and informatics; systems biology of aging; AI and machine learning; and computational and interdisciplinary modeling. For example, multi-scale modeling has matured to include a large research community ; and NIA’s Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories for Aging Research program continues to evolve nationally. Applications of digital twins — adaptive models that simulate the behavior of a physical system in a virtual setting — and the NIH Common Fund’s PRecision Imaging in MEdicine with AI program are also maturing. Scientists interested in these areas can explore related funding opportunities including:
- Trailblazer R21 Awards for New and Early-Stage Investigators
- Focused Technology Research and Development R01 and R21 (look out for a new NIA-based funding opportunity that will replace it in a few months)
- Bioengineering Partnerships with Industry
- Small Business Digital Technologies for Early Detection, Characterization and Monitoring of Senescence-Related Changes
Share your high-tech ideas
We welcome your ideas to continue growing and developing unique, novel, and interdisciplinary aging science technology. To learn more about the potential for MPS, check out NIA’s recent workshop on 3-Dimensional In Vitro Tissue Systems for Research on Aging and register for the MPS workshop, “New Approach Methodologies to Study Aging,” coming up Nov. 13 at the Gerontological Society of America conference . Keep current on other Division of Aging Biology activities by signing up for our newsletter or emailing tiziana.cogliati@nih.gov or leonid.tsap@nih.gov . We also invite comments below!
Funding Opportunities Meetings 2024-10-09T00:00:00Z