Sbir phase II: a cancer diagnostic instrument to measure empirical treatment response

The National Science Foundation awarded Empiri, Inc. a Cooperative Agreement valued at $1,249,794 on July 1, 2026, under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to develop an automated tumor slice culture instrument that measures cancer patients' drug treatment response.

The project refines an automated tissue slicer and handler (ATSH) prototyped in Phase I, with objectives including scaling of sample preparation, refinement and expansion of ATSH design and functionality including consumables, and implementation of customized liquid handling applications. The resulting production-ready instrument will automate a 3D tumor slice culture assay using fresh human tumor tissues to predict individual patient responses to anti-cancer drugs within 8 days of biopsy or surgery, enabling physicians to select optimal treatments based on empirical data. The automated system is designed to run the assay more consistently, eliminate key human failure modes, reduce time and cost, and support both clinical care and drug development pipelines through high-capacity, quality-controlled operation.

Work is performed in Houston, Texas, with a period of performance from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (sbir) phase II project is a novel, automated, tumor slice culture instrument that can accurately assesses individual cancer patients? Sensitivity to anti-cancer drugs. The instrument will automate a novel 3D tumor slice culture method using fresh human tumor tissues. IT has been shown to accurately predict patient responses to anti-cancer drugs, in 8 days from biopsy or surgery, enabling doctors to make data-driven decisions to select the optimal treatment for each patient. This small business innovation research (sbir) phase II project aims to build the first-in-class instrument that will automate an assay that measures cancer drug treatment response. To impact both clinical care and drug development pipelines, this assay needs to be performed on thousands of samples, accurately each time. Automating the assay through this project is necessary to scale the assay and meet these demands. This project will refine the automated tissue slicer and handler (atsh) prototyped in phase 1 of this project. The proposed objective and tasks will enable scaling of sample preparation going into the atsh, refine and expand the atsh design and functionality including consumables, and implement customized liquid handling applications that can be programmed for different assays, resulting in an automated system that runs the assay more consistently, eliminates key human failure modes, requires less time, and reduces cost. Success in these activities will yield a production ready, high capacity, quality-controlled instrument that accurately reports treatment responses to transform both drug development and personalized cancer care. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.