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Farmer Family Challenge Grant Seeks to Accelerate Organoid Technology

Organoid development at Cincinnati Children’s has received a powerful boost thanks to a new $5 million challenge grant awarded by the Farmer Family Foundation to our Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM).

The new funding continues support that began in 2016 with the Farmer family’s initial $1 million gift for tissue engineering. This was followed by their first $5 million challenge grant in 2018 to establish and name the CuSTOM Accelerator Lab.

“The CuSTOM Accelerator provides a runway to develop, manufacture and deliver innovative stem cell and organoid-based research tools,” says Aaron Zorn, PhD, the organoid center’s director. “The Farmer Family Foundation’s initial support was crucial to our work. The Foundation’s generous new gift will further accelerate our efforts to bring organoid technology into drug development and to support the extensive preparations needed to allow organoid tissues to be transplanted in humans.”

Read the full announcement at our Newsroom

As a challenge grant, the medical center has five years to match the gift with investments from other donors. Contributions can be made at Give Now: CuSTOM or by contacting James Cleetus at 513-636-1166 or james.cleetus@cchmc.org.

Read more about organoid research at Cincinnati Children’s