Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Center for Validation of Innovative Medical Devices Using Mechano-Bio Active Materials (Center Director Professor Chan-hee Park, hereinafter the Validation Center) signed an agreement for collaborative research and development with Professor Roger Kamm of the MechanoBio Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, which leads research on organoids (organ-like structures such as artificial organs).

The signing ceremony, held on January 12 (local time in the United States), was attended by Kim Kwan-young, Governor of North Jeolla Province, and Professor Seok Jeong (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University), co-founder of Next & Bio, a specialized biohealth company. They agreed to cooperate on future international collaborative research and development and personnel exchanges related to bio-organoids.

At the event, Center Director Professor Chan-hee Park introduced key equipment of the JBNU Validation Center, including biological analysis instruments such as Cryo BioTEM, FIB FESEM and confocal microscopy, and outlined the center's vision to serve as a GLP preclinical validation center.

Professor Roger Kamm expressed strong interest in the outstanding performance of the equipment at the JBNU Validation Center, and the fact that the center employs specialized staff to operate these instruments. He said he hopes the JBNU Validation Center will grow into a hub research institution in the field of organoid-chip-based mechanobiology and pledged his full cooperation as needed.

Organoids and similar organ-like constructs are three-dimensional cell aggregates formed through self-renewal and self-organization from adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells. They are characterized by re-aggregating and recombining cells via three-dimensional culture methods to include cell types specific to model organs.

As the diversity and complexity of drugs for various diseases have increased, drug screening methods using animal models have reached their limits. Many drugs known to be effective in animal models fail to achieve the expected efficacy when applied to patients. Accordingly, recent research has focused on developing disease models as organoids from patients' tissues using stem cells and enabling real-time observation of responses to various drugs. 

Professor Roger Kamm is a leading scholar in integrating mechanobiology with microfluidic bio-chip platforms to develop advanced organoid testing methods that could replace future experimental animals. The organoid-based regenerative medicine and precision medicine industry is also a core sector among the bio-specialized complex designation projects that South Korea is currently pursuing.

At the same time, the JBNU Validation Center also signed an MOU with Professor Yeo-heung Yoon of North Carolina A&T State University. Professor Yoon is a world-renowned scholar who, in 2022, became the first Korean-origin professor to receive the United States' most prestigious Oliver Max Gardner Award. He is currently conducting research to develop brain organoids using stem cells and mini‑brain organ systems capable of testing various drugs. Both institutions agreed to play a leading role in the field of brain organoids through future collaborative research and active personnel exchanges.

President O-bong Yang said, "These two MOUs are highly significant because they provide a valuable opportunity to cooperate with world‑leading scholars in the organoid‑chip field to support North Jeolla Province's efforts to attract a bio-specialized complex designation," and added, "JBNU will provide active support at the university level."