Programme in Women’s Reproductive Health

Women’s health, particularly reproductive health, remains a significantly understudied area. Women’s health is generally viewed in terms of maternal health- but needs independent attention. The reproductive system plays a central role in women’s health. Hormonal control of reproduction has undesirable effects on women’s health and a high risk of teratogenicity. Safe, non-hormonal alternatives are essential for improved reproductive choice and health. Early human development is poorly understood, hence de-risking new products is difficult. Gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in early development could lead to transformative discoveries and safer alternatives to existing products that aid women’s reproductive health and choices.

Closing the gap: With funding from the Gates Foundation, our goal is to develop tools that enable the discovery of potential drugs and assess a range of intervention strategies in vitro. Generalizable organoid models of early human development can be a valuable tool to de-risk drug discovery. Human stem cell-derived organoids, such as embryoid bodies, blastoids, gastruloids and cardiomyocytes, can mimic certain aspects of early-stage development. Hence, we aim to create human stem cell and organoid models that will help mitigate the risks associated with drug targets and establish new, widely applicable frameworks. Furthermore, we are using indigenous stem cell lines and also developing reagents and substrates to investigate crucial aspects of stem cell maintenance and differentiation in an indigenous context. When combined with automation technology, these could provide robust laboratory models and reliable high-throughput pipelines for evaluating and de-risking candidate molecules.

The collaborative team at inStem, comprising stem cell biologists, chemists, and structural biologists, brings together substantial expertise to achieve both goals. This project has the potential to establish a sustainable and impactful portfolio of stem cell-based applications, advancing women’s reproductive health and expanding available choices.