Organoids are small, lab-grown models that mimic the structure and function of human organs and are transforming how researchers study disease and test treatments. Yet most organoid models today are created through trial-and-error, making them difficult to reproduce across labs and slowing their adoption across research and industry. The Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Center will be the nation’s first fully integrated platform dedicated to developing standardized organoid-based New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). The initiative is being launched by the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, in collaboration with many other NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Research Technologies Branch and Center for Human Immunology, Infection and Autoimmunity, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and the Office of Research on Women’s Health, with plans to expand partnerships across many other NIH institutes and centers and the broader scientific community.
NIH establishes nation’s first dedicated organoid development center to reduce reliance on animal modeling
The Standardized Organoid Modeling Center aims to produce standardized protocols for organoid research, addressing reproducibility challenges.
09/26/2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the award of contracts for launching the Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Center, a national resource that will be dedicated to using cutting-edge technologies to develop standardized organoid-based new approach methodologies (NAMs) that deliver robust, reproducible, and patient-centered research findings. With contracts totaling $87 million for the first three years, the center will be housed at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR), a facility supported by NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI). The center’s goal will be to leverage the latest technologies to enable real-time optimization of organoid protocols.