The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched the nation’s first dedicated facility for organoid research standardization, marking a major step toward reducing reliance on animal testing and improving reproducibility across the life sciences. The Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Center, housed at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR), will serve as a hub for building robust, reproducible, and accessible organoid-based models for biomedical research.
Backed by $87 million in initial contracts over three years, the SOM Center will leverage organoid technology—integrating artificial intelligence, robotics, and high-throughput automation—to accelerate organoid reproducibility and standardization. The initiative aligns with NIH’s commitment to advancing new approach methodologies (NAMs) that complement or replace animal models while improving predictive power for human biology.
Advancing reproducibility through technology
“By creating standardized, reproducible, and accessible organoid models, we will accelerate drug discovery and translational science, offering more precise tools for disease modeling, public health protection, and reducing reliance on animal models,” said NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD.
Organoids—three-dimensional tissue cultures grown from stem cells—replicate key structures and functions of human organs such as the liver, lung, heart, and intestine. Despite their promise, organoid protocols often vary between research groups, limiting reproducibility and slowing adoption. The SOM Center aims to address these barriers by integrating automation, AI-driven data analysis, and diverse human cell sources to create reference standards for the broader research community.
Initially, the center will focus on developing organoid models for the liver, lung, heart, and intestine, with expansion plans for other organ systems and disease-specific applications.
Collaboration, accessibility, and regulatory alignment
The SOM Center is designed to serve scientists across academic, government, and industry settings, providing open access to protocols, data, and organoid materials. It will also collaborate with the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies to develop preclinical testing models that align with evolving safety and efficacy standards.
“The NIH SOM Center is truly a first of its kind,” said Nicole Kleinstreuer, acting NIH deputy director for program coordination, planning, and strategic initiatives. “It will serve as a national resource to scientists at NIH and investigators from around the country and the world, offering a unique combination of AI and machine learning to develop world-class organoid protocols, advanced robotics for large-scale production, and open-access repositories for physical samples and digital resources.”
An external scientific advisory board will guide the SOM Center’s research priorities and ensure alignment with community standards in reproducible lab research.
What this means for lab managers
For laboratory managers, the SOM Center’s establishment signals an increasing shift toward standardization, automation, and open data sharing in biomedical research. As organoid systems become more consistent and widely available, labs may gain access to validated models that improve experimental reliability and reduce costs associated with maintaining animal facilities.
The center’s focus on reproducibility, cross-sector collaboration, and regulatory alignment also offers a framework that lab leaders can emulate in their own operations—integrating automation, data transparency, and cross-disciplinary coordination to strengthen research quality and compliance.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
