Skip to main content
Institute for Network Medicine iNetMed
  1. HOME
  2. Centers
  3. HUMANOID
  4. Ongoing Research Highlights at the HUMANOID CoRE

Ongoing Research Highlights at the HUMANOID CoRE

HUMANOID

Grand Challenges Embraced by the HUMANOID Team

  

 

In the face of tightening National Institutes of Health (NIH) budgets, the agency has launched a bold new initiative: to expand innovative, human-based research models while reducing reliance on animal testing. This shift aligns seamlessly with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent commitment to accelerating alternatives to animal models in drug development and disease research.

At UC San Diego, we are not only ready—we are already there.

Established in 2019, UC San Diego’s HUMANOID (Human Multi-Omic Atlas Network for Organoid and Integrated Discovery) is a national leader in developing next-generation human models of disease. Housed within the UC San Diego Institute for Network Medicine and supported by three transdisciplinary centers, HUMANOID is pioneering a new class of biologically faithful disease avatars: trademarked HUMANOID™ systems—miniature, precision-engineered models built by humans, from humans, for humans.

Decorative

HUMANOID's Pay-It-Forward Voucher Program

​
Innovation thrives at the intersections of disciplines—and our greatest strength lies in enabling collaboration. HUMANOID’s Pay-It-Forward Voucher Program embodies this belief by reducing the barriers that often prevent bold ideas from taking root: cost, expertise, and technical know-how. By supporting early-stage, unfunded organoid studies with the critical preliminary data needed for future grant success, we lift all boats—ensuring that innovation continues, even when funding is uncertain.​

​

Motivation for the voucher program: The Pay-It-Forward Program is more than a funding mechanism—it’s a commitment to shared progress. It leverages the full strength of our campus: intellectual capital, collaborative hustle, and a drive to solve problems together. Bring us a challenge, and if feasible, we partner with you—providing access to HUMANOID’s biobank, generating key preliminary data, and offering hands-on support with IRB documents, human subjects logistics, and grant components (Facilities & Resources, Budget, Bioinformatics, etc.).​

​

Our biobank, like our models, grows through partnership—built on trust, driven by domain expertise, and scaled through teamwork. This program puts our mission into motion: breaking down barriers, fueling new ideas, and investing in your vision for transformative science.​

​

Have an idea and a target RFA ? ​

Come talk to us: ctindle@health.ucsd.edu ​