A research initiative at the University of California San Diego, supported by up to $25.8 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), seeks to address the shortage of donor livers through 3D bioprinting technology. The project is led by Shaochen Chen, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
The multidisciplinary team includes experts in engineering, liver biology, imaging, surgery, and artificial intelligence. Their aim is to develop fully functional, patient-specific livers using a patient’s own cells. This approach could eliminate reliance on donor organs and lifelong immunosuppressant drugs.
“When people think about 3D printing, they often imagine making gadgets like cellphone holders or toys, not human organs,” said Chen. “But the need for organ transplants is enormous, and 3D bioprinting is uniquely suited to address that challenge, as it allows us to personalize each organ to the patient. Our ultimate goal — the holy grail — is to help solve the organ shortage by printing real, living human organs that can restore health and quality of life.”
Chen’s lab has spent over two decades advancing 3D bioprinting technology capable of producing high-resolution biological tissues with complex structures rapidly. Recent integration of artificial intelligence has helped engineer vascular networks needed for full-sized organs.
The current initiative aims to apply these advances toward creating a transplantable human liver. If successful, this could provide an on-demand source of functional liver tissue for transplantation and potentially save more than 12,000 patients annually who are on the U.S. transplant waiting list. It may also lower healthcare costs and improve outcomes for those with chronic liver disease.
“For decades, the transplant community has dreamed of a future where the fate of thousands of patients each year is no longer determined by the scarcity of donor organs,” said Gabriel Schnickel, professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine and chief of transplantation at UC San Diego Health. “This work has the potential to fundamentally change countless lives by moving that vision from aspiration to reality.”
Other co-investigators from UC San Diego include David Berry, Ahmed El Kaffas, Padmini Rangamani, Bernd Schnabl and Claude Sirlin from the School of Medicine; Rose Yu from Jacobs School of Engineering.
The project partners with Allele Biotechnology in San Diego—led by CEO Jiwu Wang—which brings expertise in personalized stem cell generation technologies and operates facilities compliant with regulatory standards for cell manufacturing.
Unlike traditional 3D printing methods that use physical extrusion or deposition techniques over hours or days, Chen’s process uses digitally controlled light patterns to solidify cell-laden materials layer by layer within seconds. This method allows precise recreation of microarchitectures found in living tissues such as blood vessels.
In 2016, Chen’s group demonstrated their ability to print small but lifelike human liver tissue models derived from induced pluripotent stem cells—making them specific to individual patients and reducing immune rejection risks.
Building on this foundation led to creation of Allegro 3D (now Cellink), which commercialized their platform into an industrial-scale printer able to produce larger tissue structures.
“UC San Diego is uniquely positioned to lead this kind of work,” said Chen. “We have a top-ten engineering school and a world-class medical school right across campus. We have a highly collaborative culture, which makes it easy to bring engineers, clinicians and biologists together to tackle a problem of this scale.”
Funding comes through ARPA-H’s Personalized Regenerative Immunocompetent Nanotechnology Tissue (PRINT) program under Award Number D25AC00432-00 for up to five years. The program is managed by Ryan Spitler at ARPA-H. According to project statements: “The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.”
