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Development of a high throughput 3D microphysiologicalplatform for rapid automated assessment of human brain organoids response to drugs targeting neurological disorders

Project Overview

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the most common and devastating neurological diseases, with over 750,000 AD patients and over 100,000 PD patients in Canada. Drug development remains a slow, expensive and inefficient process. The biopharmaceutical industries need alternative models that better predict the human response to drugs and that are easily scalable to enable High-Throughput Screening (HTS) of small molecules and biologics that now include CRISPR, allowing the rapid interrogation of genetic targets and hundreds of thousands of small molecules in disease-relevant assays. Brain organoids offer a promising avenue for the development and validation of drugs to treat brain-related diseases, due to their capability to recreate the 3D structure of the brain and clinical translatability. Our overall objective is to develop a suite of three complementary devices by applying microfabrication and microfluidics to miniaturize and standardize the generation of human brain organoids. These devices will reduce the costs for generating and maintaining neuronal organoids, reduce the overall time and cost of labor by decreasing the amount of manual handling, and improve the quality of our organoid cultures by reducing their stress from undue media changes and handling, with the development of a microfluidics device for effective delivery and removal of media and reagents. These devices will be patented and commercialized by Ananda Devices and McGill. All results obtained with brain organoids produced by the MNI in these devices will be shared in an open manner, aligned with the MNI open science strategy to put all data in the public domain in a freely accessible manner.

Principal Investigator

Thomas Durcan , Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University

Team Members

Edward Fon, McGill University

Margaret Magdesian, ANANDA Devices

Christopher Moraes, McGill University

Partners and Donors

CQDM (MEI)

CQDM (Merck)

McGill (HBHL)

Project Complete

Development of a high throughput 3D microphysiologicalplatform for rapid automated assessment of human brain organoids response to drugs targeting neurological disorders

  • Grant Type

    Platform grants

  • Area of research

    Neurodegeneration

  • Disease Area

    Parkinson's,  Alzheimer’s

  • Competition

    CQDM - Brain Canada - Quantum Leap

  • Province

    Québec

  • Start Date

    2020

  • Total Grant Amount

    $1,600,000

  • Health Canada Contribution

    $800,000

Contact Us

1200 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1600, Montreal, Quebec
H3B 4G7

+1 (514) 989-2989 info@braincanada.ca

Please note all online donations will receive an electronic tax receipt, issued by Brain Canada Foundation.

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Territorial acknowledgement

The offices of Brain Canada Foundation are located on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka Peoples, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. We honour and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging, and dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership, collaboration, and reconciliation. In our work, we focus our efforts on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, particularly those that pertain to improving health for Indigenous Peoples and that focus on advancing our own learning on Indigenous issues.

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Registration number: 89105 2094 RR0001

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  • About
    • What We Do
    • EDI Action Plan
    • Leadership
    • Team
    • Annual Report
    • Publications
    • Careers
  • Brain Conditions
    • One Brain
    • ALS
    • Autism (ASD)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Brain Injury
    • Dementia
    • Epilepsy
    • Mental Illness
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson’s
    • Stroke
    • More
  • Research
    • Programs
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Program Partners
    • Announcements
  • Impact
    • Research Impact Stories
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Brain Health in Indigenous Communities
    • Women’s Brain Health
    • Mind Over Matter
  • How You Can Help
    • Ways to Give
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Workplace Giving
    • The Great Minds
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