10 October 2025
Human Technopole researchers Nereo Kalebic and Blagoje Soskic have been awarded $1,319,010 by the Gilbert Family Foundation (GFF) through the Next-Generation NF1 Models Initiative. Their funded project “Assembloid Platform to Model Cellular Interactions Driving NF1 Glioma Pathology” focuses on developing the first 3D cell culture model of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic cancer predisposition syndrome that affects the central and peripheral nervous systems and increases the risk of high-grade gliomas.
Building on earlier support from GFF and on their expertise in human brain organoids and immune cell culture, the groups have already started generating innovative NF1 assembloids: complex 3D culture systems created by fusing organoids that reflect different stages of glioma progression.
“To date, no assembloid model exists for this condition, and by mimicking glioma progression in a dish we aim to uncover the fundamental mechanisms driving NF1 glioma development,” says Nereo Kalebic (Research Group Leader at HT).
Securing the full competitive grant will allow the researchers to further refine and characterise these assembloids, including co-culture with immune cells. A key element of the project is access to patient-derived samples, which will provide material to generate patient-specific assembloids incorporating immune cells. These models are expected to support both mechanistic research and future drug screening and therapeutic discovery efforts.
“The involvement of national and international patient cohorts, the integration of immune cells into complex 3D disease models and the generation of multi-omics data place this work squarely within HT’s systems biology mission,” notes Blagoje Soskic (Research Group Leader at HT).
The project will actively involve several HT shared facilities and core infrastructures, including the National Facilities for Genomics, Genome Engineering and Disease Modelling, Light Imaging, and Data Handling and Analysis. Collaboration agreements are being finalised with national and international hospitals that treat NF1 patients. These partnerships will ensure access to relevant clinical samples and bring medical perspectives into the research workflow.
Aiming to benefit both research communities and patients, the initiative aligns with HT’s broader goal of advancing multi-scale biological models relevant to human disease, as well as the Institute’s commitment to an interdisciplinary, impact-driven research environment that attracts and supports top scientific talent.
