Hull York Medical School researchers part of new UK project to transform human disease modelling

Hull York Medical School researchers are part of a major new initiative which aims to facilitate the development of human based research models to allow for a greater understanding of disease and accelerate the creation of new medicines.  

The Medical School will receive funding from a joint £15.9 million investment by the (MRC), Wellcome and UKRI Innovate UK which will support a coordinated network of five interdisciplinary teams focused on the development of advanced, specific and highly reproducible human in vitro models – lab grown systems which mimic real human tissues. These human models aim to improve understanding of disease, accelerate drug discovery, and reduce reliance on animal models.  

Amongst the five projects being supported is ARTEMIS – ARTificial blood vessels for Thrombosis, Endothelial Modelling, and artificial Intelligence Simulation – a pioneering project led by Dr Simon Calaminus, Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences and Pharmacology at Hull York Medical School, University Hull. ARTEMIS will develop scalable, adaptable artificial blood vessels (ABV’s) that will replicate key aspects of the human circulation system – such as blood flow, vessel structure, and clot formation. 

Dr Calaminus says, "Cardiovascular disease is responsible for almost a third of global mortality, with 85% of those deaths associated with blood clots in the heart (heart attack) or brain (stroke). However, animal studies can poorly predict human responses, so our goal is to build reliable, non-animal methods that are fit for modern drug discovery." 

The ARTEMIS project brings together a UK/US multidisciplinary team spanning biomedical science, medicine, engineering, AI, and mathematics across academia and industry including Manchester Metropolitan University, Keele University, Oregon Health and Science University and Medicines Discovery Catapult. Together they will create adaptable, scalable and reproducible artificial blood vessels (ABVs). These will be used to accurately model key aspects of the human circulation system, e.g. blood flow and blood vessel structure alongside how blood clots can be therapeutically targeted under different conditions. Data from this model will be used to develop a computational model, that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with biophysical mechanisms to simulate how hypothetical drugs will act on blood clots in different disease conditions.  

This integrated lab-plus-AI approach will help identify safer, more effective drug treatments that can be tailored to different patients and speed the best options into clinical trials thereby driving the best clinical outcomes for the millions of patients suffering from the impact of blood clots. 

The ARTEMIS project is one example of how researchers at Hull York Medical School are at the forefront of discovery science which aims to increase our understanding of health and disease and deliver better treatments for patients. 

ARTEMIS is one of five clusters funded under the new initiative, which also includes: 

• MIMIC (University of Nottingham): A multi-organ model of liver disease (MASLD). 

• Edinburgh Human Brain Cluster: Live brain slice models for neurological research. 

• INTREPID (University of Leicester): Tumour explant models to reflect cancer complexity. 

• Oxford Pain Cluster: Human models to study chronic pain mechanisms. 

 
Professor Patrick Chinnery, MRC Executive Chair, said: 

"Human in vitro models can represent unique aspects of human physiology and contribute to a more accurate picture of how diseases develop and progress. 

"These novel human in vitro models will increase our mechanistic understanding of disease, including its progression over time from a healthy state to disease onset, and ultimately to tissue and organ failure. This will help us develop treatments better and faster." 

Michael Dunn, Director of Discovery Research at Wellcome, said: 

"These novel human in vitro models will help accelerate discovery research by enabling better understanding of fundamental human physiology and disease. We’re pleased to partner with UKRI MRC and Innovate UK to support the development and uptake of these exciting models, which can potentially underpin the development of new and better treatments for a range of diseases." 

A key ambition of the new investment is strategic coordination across the network of supported projects and to create connectivity with wider UK capabilities, including industry to join efforts and address common challenges in the field. 

The funding was delivered in partnership with the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).  

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