U of M Medical School researchers secure $11.6M for inflammatory disease research
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (10/25/2024) — A pair of University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have been awarded a $11.6 million grant to advance transformative treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases.
The award is part of a $42.8 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) that involves a collaborative team of researchers from Mayo Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of California Davis, State University of New York Binghamton and biotech companies EnLiSense and Sersense Inc.
The project — called Engage Assess SecretE (EASE) — aims to develop an innovative bioelectric device that functions as a living pharmacy within the body, housing genetically engineered cells that produce therapeutics on demand to target inflammation. This new approach could revolutionize the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and other autoimmune disorders.
Branden Moriarity, PhD, and Beau Webber, PhD, both associate professors at the U of M Medical School, will lead the cell engineering team, a critical component in developing the implantable device.
“We are very excited to deploy our years of experience in engineering cell lines, primary cells and iPSCs for the end goal of generating cells that can produce nearly any biologic on demand and in an inducible fashion from the confines of a state-of-the-art implantable device to treat a broad spectrum of chronic human diseases,” said Dr. Moriarity.
Unlike traditional monoclonal antibody treatments, which require frequent infusions, this device could provide continuous, long-term therapy — significantly improving patient outcomes.
“If successful, this could open an entirely new field of affordable and effective therapeutics by way of an advanced implantable device housing engineered, biological factory cells,” said Dr. Webber. “Much of the cellular engineering required for this application is only enabled by the discoveries and advances pioneered in our laboratories here at the University of Minnesota.”
This research will pave the way for preclinical studies, with plans to move toward human clinical trials within six years.
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The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.