Opening pathways to clinical trials and therapies that were not previously available
In Sydney, three research teams have received public funding to grow human tissue in laboratories — tiny retinas, programmable microbeads, and predictive computer models — each designed to answer medical questions without the uncertainty of animal testing. At the heart of this work is a quiet revolution in how science listens to the human body: by speaking to it directly. For those living with inherited blindness and no current treatment options, this shift in method is not merely procedural — it is the opening of a door that was not there before.
- People with inherited blindness currently face a landscape with no treatment options, and the urgency to find who can benefit from gene therapy — before time and hope are spent — is the engine driving this research.
- Traditional animal testing creates a translation gap that slows discovery and muddies results, and the scientific community is now actively dismantling that bottleneck with human-relevant alternatives.
- Three Sydney teams are pursuing distinct but complementary approaches — lab-grown retinas, programmable microbeads for tissue growth, and a computer model predicting drug side effects — each targeting a different failure point in the drug development pipeline.
- NSW's $600,000 grant round, nested within a $4.5 million network established in 2024, signals institutional commitment to building lasting research infrastructure rather than funding isolated experiments.
- The trajectory points toward NSW positioning itself as a global leader in ethical, effective drug development — with early-career researchers embedded in each project to ensure the expertise compounds over time.
Three Sydney research teams have each received $200,000 from the NSW Government to pursue medical breakthroughs using non-animal technologies — part of a $600,000 commitment announced at the inaugural NAT-Net VANGUARD Symposium on June 29.
Professor Robyn Jamieson at the Children's Medical Research Institute leads the most immediately human project: growing miniature retinas in the lab to determine which patients with inherited blindness are likely to respond to gene therapy. Because the same genetic condition can behave differently across individuals, matching lab-grown tissue to a patient's own genetic profile could identify who should enter clinical trials — and spare others from pursuing treatments unlikely to help. For people who currently have no options at all, this research represents a genuine opening.
The second grant supports Dr. Alexander Mason at the University of Wollongong, working with Imperial College London to develop programmable microbeads capable of delivering precise chemical signals to grow functional human tissue in laboratory conditions. The third goes to Associate Professor Antoine de Weck at the Children's Cancer Institute, who is building CrypTox — a computer model designed to predict side effects of medicines used to treat spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease.
All three projects operate within NAT-Net, the Non-Animal Technologies Network established in 2024 with $4.5 million in NSW Government investment. The network's premise is practical as much as ethical: human tissue grown in a lab produces data that translates directly to human outcomes, while animal models always carry biological uncertainty. Each grant team also includes early-career researchers, treating this as infrastructure — conditions for many future discoveries, not just one.
For Jamieson's team, the two-year project is focused on reaching genetic diagnoses for people where diagnosis has previously been impossible, and on opening pathways to clinical trials that didn't exist before. The patients involved in planning the research, she notes, are deeply grateful. What they want is straightforward: answers, and access to treatment.
Three research teams in Sydney have just secured $200,000 each from the NSW Government to pursue medical breakthroughs without using animals in their labs. The funding, announced on June 29 at the inaugural NAT-Net VANGUARD Symposium, represents part of a larger $600,000 commitment to non-animal research technologies—a shift in how scientists test new treatments and understand human disease.
Professor Robyn Jamieson at the Children's Medical Research Institute is leading one of these projects. Her team grows tiny retinas in the laboratory, using them to determine which patients with inherited blindness might respond to gene therapy. It's a crucial distinction: not everyone with the same genetic condition will benefit from the same treatment. By testing therapies on lab-grown tissue that matches a patient's own genetic profile, Jamieson's work could identify who should enter clinical trials and who might be wasting time on a therapy unlikely to help. For people living with inherited blindness today, there are often no options at all. This research opens a door.
The second grant went to Dr. Alexander Mason at the University of Wollongong, working with Imperial College London. His team is developing programmable microbeads—tiny structures that can deliver precise chemical signals to grow functional human tissue in laboratory conditions. The goal is to create a reliable, human-relevant testing ground for new therapies without relying on animal models. The third recipient, Associate Professor Antoine de Weck at the Children's Cancer Institute, is building CrypTox, a computer model designed to predict side effects of a new class of medicines used to treat spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease.
What ties these projects together is the Non-Animal Technologies Network, or NAT-Net, established in 2024 with a $4.5 million NSW Government investment. The network brings together researchers and institutions across the state to develop alternatives to animal testing—not out of sentiment alone, but because human-relevant data accelerates discovery and improves patient outcomes. When you test a drug on human tissue grown in a lab, you get answers that matter to humans. When you test on animals, the translation to human biology is always uncertain.
Minister for Medical Research David Harris framed the funding as a promise kept: NSW researchers now have the tools and support to deliver world-class science by making research more relevant to human biology. The grants also include early-career researchers on each team, building the next generation of experts in non-animal technologies. This is infrastructure thinking—not just funding one discovery, but creating the conditions for many discoveries to follow.
Professor Jean-Frédéric Levesque, NSW Health's Deputy Secretary for Clinical Innovation and Research, emphasized that these investments position NSW at the forefront of scientific progress by developing sustainable research methods. For Jamieson's team specifically, the two-year project is a chance to fast-track diagnosis and access to therapies for people with blinding eye conditions. The research consumers involved in planning the work are, according to Jamieson, deeply grateful for the funding. What matters most to them is simple: reaching a genetic diagnosis for people where diagnosis has been impossible, and opening pathways to clinical trials and treatments that didn't exist before.
Erica Bremner Kneipp, CSIRO Executive Chair and NAT-Net Research Director for Human Health, called this a landmark moment—not just for the network, but for medical research in NSW. The work funded here, she said, will one day lead to better medicines and better outcomes for patients. That's the long view. The immediate work is collaboration, rigor, and ethics. The three projects represent genuine partnerships between institutions, the kind of ecosystem that lasts.
Notable Quotes
For people affected with these conditions, the aim is for this to make a difference to be able to reach a genetic diagnosis for people where this has not previously been possible, and opening pathways to clinical trials and therapies that were not previously available.— Professor Robyn Jamieson, Children's Medical Research Institute
Non-animal technologies give us the opportunity to generate more human-relevant evidence earlier in the research pipeline.— Associate Professor Shafagh Waters, NAT-Net Research Pillar Lead, UNSW
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that these researchers are growing retinas in a lab instead of testing on animals?
Because a human retina grown from a patient's own cells tells you something an animal's eye never can. You're testing a therapy on tissue that's genetically identical to the person who might receive it. That's human-relevant data from the start.
But people with inherited blindness have no treatment options now. How does this grant change that timeline?
It doesn't cure anyone tomorrow. But it does two things: it identifies which patients are likely to respond to gene therapies that already exist, and it accelerates the discovery of new ones. Right now, doctors can't predict who will benefit. This research gives them that answer.
The three projects seem quite different—retinas, microbeads, computer models. What connects them?
They're all replacing animal testing with human-relevant alternatives. Jamieson uses grown tissue. Mason uses programmable microbeads to grow tissue. De Weck uses computational prediction. Different tools, same principle: get better answers faster without animals.
Is this just about ethics, or is there a practical advantage?
Both. But the practical advantage is real. When you test on human tissue or human-derived data, you learn what actually happens in humans. Animal models are a guess. That's why these grants exist—they're faster, more accurate, and they get treatments to patients sooner.
What happens after the two-year grant ends?
If the work is strong, it becomes part of NAT-Net's permanent infrastructure. These aren't one-off projects. They're building a research ecosystem in NSW that other teams will use and build on. The early-career researchers on each team are the next generation of experts.
For someone with inherited blindness right now, what does this mean?
Probably nothing immediate. But it means the pathway to diagnosis and treatment is being cleared. In a few years, there might be a genetic test that identifies exactly which therapy will work for them. That's the difference between hope and nothing.