This multi-institution £3.5 million MRC grant will fund the development of a multi-organ lab model that replicates the make-up of fatty liver disease and evaluate potential treatments. The pioneering new project co-led by IRR Group Leader Professor Ramachandran, aims to develop an innovative multi-organ platform that mimics the abnormal body functions seen in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), also known as non alcoholic fatty liver disease. MASLD is a growing global health concern affecting one in five people in the UK that is caused by accumulation of too much fat in the liver.Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease is a multifaceted disease influenced by genetics, metabolism, inflammation, and organ-to-organ communication. Current models, including animal studies, fail to accurately capture the disease’s complexity, limiting progress in treatment development.The project, led by the University of Nottingham, also includes experts from the University of Southampton, Harvard University, the Quadram Institute and Medicines Discovery Catapult. By studying interconnected tissue models, we aim to explore how the gut, liver, and fat tissues interact in the development of liver fibrosis in MASLD and evaluate potential treatments. The platform we develop will be a valuable resource for researchers, industry and clinicians working on complex diseases. Professor Prakash Ramachandran IRR Group Leader and co-lead of the project This funding is part of a £15.9 million investment by the UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome and UKRI Innovate UK to enable the development of advanced, specific and highly reproducible human laboratory-based (in vitro) models with the aim of making them widely available to researchers in academia and industry. Lab models use isolated cells and tissues outside the living body and can come in many forms, including stem-cell derived cell and tissue aggregates that display some organ features on a smaller scale (organoids), tissue slices removed during surgery, and organ-on-chips, which combine cell culture with microfluidics to mimic the structure and function of different organ tissues.Lab models also help to reduce the reliance on animal models in research and drug development, and support the Government’s ‘Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods’, announced today. Using blood cells from well-characterised male and female MASLD patients with diverse ethnicities, known to have different risks in developing the disease, we will generate stem cells to create personalised, patient-specific tissue models, offering unprecedented insight into how MASLD develops and progresses, including the critical transition to liver fibrosis. Professor Ghaemmaghami Project Lead at the University of Nottingham Human in vitro models enable the investigation of disease mechanisms whilst minimising the use of animals. This will accelerate our ability to diagnose illnesses early, develop new treatments, and prevent disease. Professor Patrick Chinnery MRC Executive Chair The funding was delivered in partnership with the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). Ramachandran research groupAnimal research at The University of Edinburgh Tags CIR Publication date 10 Nov, 2025
