New project to develop the next generation of drug-testing models

Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis affect multiple organs and biological systems simultaneously. This complexity makes it difficult to develop and test new medicines using the models typically employed by researchers today.

Also, many drugs are first tested in animals, typically mice, before moving on to human trials. When it later turns out that a drug does not work in humans, a great deal of time and resources have been wasted, and no useful treatment has emerged from the effort.

To address this challenge, Professor Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has joined an international team of researchers that has been awarded DKK 75 million through the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Challenge Programme. Approximately DKK 14 million of the grant will support Kornfeld’s research group.

Human mini-organs

The project aims to develop a new generation of organoid-based models capable of mimicking interactions between the body’s organs. Organoids are small, simplified versions of human organs grown from stem cells in the laboratory.

Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld’s research group will be responsible for developing advanced organoid models of adipose tissue, the liver, blood vessels and the heart.

“We will develop organoid models of adipose tissue, the liver and the heart that can be used to test and develop new treatments for conditions including obesity and cardiovascular disease,” says Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld.

The researchers will connect the organoids so they can communicate with one another in much the same way as organs do within the human body. By doing so, they hope to create a more realistic testing environment that will allow them to study disease progression and the effects of new drugs across multiple organ systems simultaneously.

Genetic diversity

As part of the project, the researchers will test both existing medicines and new drug candidates. The ambition is that these advanced models will make it possible to identify effective treatments at an earlier stage of development while ruling out those unlikely to succeed.

The models will also reflect the genetic diversity found in the population.

Using stem cells from individuals with different genetic backgrounds, the researchers will create organoids that provide a more realistic picture of how different patient groups respond to treatment.

International collaboration

The project is led by Stephen Malin of Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. In addition to SDU, researchers from Stanford University, the Broad Institute, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Copenhagen are among the participating partners.

The total grant amounts to DKK 75 million and will fund the project over six years. It is part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Challenge Programme, which in 2026 is supporting nine European research projects addressing some of the major challenges facing human and planetary health.

The Foundation has allocated nearly DKK 600 million to the programme. More information about the Challenge Programme and the nine grant recipients can be found here.