# A Lung-chip microphysiological system to model SARS-CoV-2 infection and test novel therapeutics

> **NIH NIH UG3** · CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $1,163,750

## Abstract

Project Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus has caused a pandemic, presenting us with an urgent need to develop new
models to study the pathophysiology of infection and test innovative therapeutics to combat disease. This
proposal aims to use chip-based microphysiological systems to establish a model of the human lung to
investigate SARS-CoV-2 infection and test novel antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies to reduce viral
entry and replication. Using human primary and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived lung epithelium,
we will generate both proximal and distal airway chip models, infect with live SARS-CoV-2, and test newly
designed ASOs to target host cell components to prevent viral entry and conserved viral sequences to prevent
replication. We have assembled an expert team of lung biologists, virologists, and pharmaceutical industry
partners to complement the iPSC and organ-chip technologies our lab has been developing over the past five
years. We feel that the approach presented in this proposal will yield rapid results by generating human-
relevant models to better understand the pathological mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and test novel
therapeutic strategies currently in development by our pharmaceutical industry partner.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10179816
- **Project number:** 3UG3NS105703-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** CLIVE Niels SVENDSEN
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,163,750
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10179816

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10179816, A Lung-chip microphysiological system to model SARS-CoV-2 infection and test novel therapeutics (3UG3NS105703-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10179816. Licensed CC0.

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