Three research teams have secured NSW Government funding to advance medical research using alternatives to animal testing, with projects ranging from inherited blindness and cancer treatment to tissue engineering.
The $600,000 funding package has been awarded through the Non-Animal Technologies Network (NAT-Net) Research Pillar Competitive Grant Scheme. Each of the three successful projects will receive $200,000 over two years to develop research methods that rely on human-based models and computational approaches rather than animal testing.
One of the recipients is Professor Robyn Jamieson from the Children’s Medical Research Institute, who is leading a project that uses laboratory-grown human retinal tissue to investigate inherited forms of blindness. Working with researchers from Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, the University of Sydney and Sydney Eye Hospital, the team aims to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from emerging gene therapies.
The research is intended to improve diagnosis and expand treatment opportunities for people with inherited retinal diseases, particularly those who currently have limited or no therapeutic options.
A second grant has been awarded to Dr Alexander Mason from the University of Wollongong, who is collaborating with Imperial College London to develop programmable microbeads that guide the growth of functional human tissue in the laboratory. The technology is designed to provide researchers with more accurate models for testing potential therapies without relying on animal studies.
The third project will see Associate Professor Antoine de Weck from the Children’s Cancer Institute work with Monash University to develop CrypTox, a computer model designed to predict side effects linked to a new generation of medicines being investigated for conditions including spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington’s disease.
The successful projects were selected based on their scientific merit, collaborative partnerships and their potential to advance medical research in NSW. Each team also includes an early career researcher as part of an effort to build expertise in non-animal technologies across the state.
The grants were announced at the inaugural NAT-Net VANGUARD Symposium in Sydney on 29 June and form part of the NSW Government’s $4.5 million investment announced in 2024 to establish the Non-Animal Technologies Network.
NAT-Net brings together universities, medical research institutes and government agencies to develop alternatives to animal testing while advising on the infrastructure and regulatory changes needed to support wider adoption of these methods.
Medical Research Minister David Harris said the funding would help strengthen research methods that are more closely aligned with human biology.
“The Non-Animal Technologies Network was established to ensure NSW researchers have what they need to deliver world-class science by making research more relevant to human biology. These grants put that promise into action,” he said.
NSW Health Deputy Secretary for Clinical Innovation and Research, Professor Jean-Frédéric Levesque, said the investment would support new research approaches while helping translate discoveries into improved patient care.
Professor Jamieson said the funding would allow her team to apply advanced laboratory technologies to improve genetic diagnosis for people living with inherited eye diseases.
“Our aim is to make it possible for more people to receive a genetic diagnosis and create pathways to clinical trials and therapies that were previously out of reach,” she said.
CSIRO Executive Chair of NAT-Net and Research Director for Human Health, Erica Bremner Kneipp, said the grants reflected a growing focus on research methods that combine scientific rigour with alternatives to animal testing.
NAT-Net Research Pillar Lead and University of New South Wales Associate Professor Shafagh Waters said non-animal technologies have the potential to generate evidence that is more directly relevant to human health while supporting faster development of new treatments.
Although animal models continue to play a role in many areas of biomedical research, advances in laboratory-grown tissues, computer modelling and other human-based technologies are increasingly being explored as complementary approaches that may improve research outcomes while reducing reliance on animal testing.
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