Project Grant R01CA308327

The National Cancer Institute of the Department of Health and Human Services awarded The Research Foundation for the State University of New York $662,962 on August 13, 2026, under the Cancer Biology Research program (CFDA 93.396) to develop an engineered glioblastoma cerebral organoid (GLICO) model system that enables spatially controlled manipulation of tissue mechanics to study how mechanical stress at the GBM-brain interface shapes metabolic heterogeneity and drives invasion and recurrence.

The award funds integration of tunable organoid compression platforms, a resected GLICO decompression model, and spatiomics with spatiometabolic imaging to decode the interplay between mechanical stress and metabolic remodeling. Preliminary work demonstrated the emergence of mechanometabolic hotspots within the GLICO model using spatial transcriptomics and optical metabolic imaging, revealing coordinated activation of mechanotransduction and metabolic pathways along the invasive front. Compression and resection GLICO models confirmed the reproducibility of mechanically induced responses. The project will spatially map metabolic and mechanical remodeling at the GBM-brain interface and investigate how solid stress, tissue deformation, extracellular matrix organization, oxygen and nutrient availability, and cellular mechanotransduction generate spatially distinct metabolic niches that promote invasion or dormancy. The work addresses a fundamental driver of glioblastoma progression and therapy resistance.

The Research Foundation for the State University of New York, doing business as Sponsored Projects Services, serves as the fiscal agent and sponsored programs administrator for the SUNY system. Performance takes place in Buffalo, New York, with a period of performance from the award date through July 31, 2031.