Grants & Funding

CGR was launched with a generous grant from an anonymous foundation to foster interdisciplinary endometriosis research. This original funding supported Dr. Linda Griffith, Dr. Keith Isaacson, and Dr. Doug Lauffenburger in establishing a core research program linking engineering, science, and clinical medicine. This foundation grant was supplemented with a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded to CGR Director Linda Griffith.

Subsequent philanthropic support has been provided by the Manton Foundation and the Endometriosis Foundation of America through targeted funding from the Bloomberg Foundation. Most recently, a major grant from the Manton Foundation is fueling an ambitious project titled “A New Vision for Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, and Infertility Research.” This support allowed us to expand our team and advance our pioneering work with “living patient avatars”—advanced 3D culture platforms that help us study disease mechanisms and test therapies in real time.

We are also deeply grateful for an endowment from the John and Karine Begg Fund, which provides ongoing discretionary support for pilot projects, student travel, specialized seminars, and special projects by MIT undergraduate students interested in gynecology. Publications arising from this philanthropic support have provided crucial preliminary data for subsequent work supported by DARPA and the NIH.

Tissue engineering and characterization of the endometrium and lesions are supported by the following projects:

The NIH awarded MIT a grant to establish the NAMs Technology Development Center for Women’s Health (NAMs TDC-WH) (2026–Present).

• Project: Establishing a new Technology Development Center at MIT focused on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
• Funding: $3 million per year.
• Principle Investigator (PI): Linda Griffith.
• Focus: Developing “organs-on-chips” and other advanced platforms to model human biology for female-skewed diseases like endometriosis. This grant focuses on driving engineering solutions that shift the clinical conversation from managing pain to discovering biomarkers, genetics, and molecular networks.

NIH Tissue Chips Program (2019–2024): “Microvascular Permeability, Inflammation, and Lesion Physiology in Endometriosis: A Microphysiological Systems Approach” (NIBIB grant U01 EB029132).

• PI: Linda Griffith, with co-investigators Doug Lauffenburger, David Trumper, and Roger Kamm at MIT, in collaboration with Keith Isaacson, Megan Loring, and Stephanie Morris at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
• Focus: Supports development of microfluidic technologies to foster culture of vascularized 3D endometriosis lesions under prescribed microenvironment conditions (including cycles of hormones) and to examine immune cell recruitment and response to drugs.

NIH Covid Programs (2020–2024)

• Grant: “Demystifying activity of IgG subclass antibody responses” (NIAID grant R37-AI80289).
• Project PI: Doug Lauffenburger, in collaboration with Galit Alter at the Ragon Institute.
• Focus: Investigation of how pathogen-induced antibodies and associated immune cell functions—such as those against SARS-CoV-2—are transferred from mother to fetus during pregnancy.

DARPA Microphysiological Systems Program (2012–2018)

• Grant: “Biomimetics/Physiomimetics” (ONR W911NF-12-2-0039).
• PI: Linda Griffith, with co-investigators David Trumper, Doug Lauffenburger, Steve Tannenbaum, Laurie Boyer, Paula Hammond, and Murat Cirit at MIT; Rebecca Carrier at Northeastern University; David Hughes and colleagues at CN Bio Innovations; Guarav Rohagti and colleagues at Continuum/Epam, Inc.; and in collaboration with William Murphy at the University of Wisconsin.
• Focus: Supported development of synthetic biomaterials to enable tissue-engineered epithelial-stromal co-culture for a model of the endometrial mucosal barrier, along with technology to culture endometrium in a microfluidic reactor connected to other organ systems (liver, gut, brain).

NIH Transformative R01 (2009–2014)

• Grant: “Perfused 3D Tissue Surrogates for Complex Cell–Cell Communication Systems” (NIBIB/Common Fund grant R01-EB010246).
• PI: Linda Griffith.
• Focus: Supported development of the PrAMA matrix metalloproteinase assay, which led to the MAMBI Matrix Metalloproteinase activity-based probe assay.

While seed resources frequently lead to traditional research grants, CGR relies heavily on the generous support of private donors to sustain vital, fast-moving activities. This funding directly supports:

• Sponsoring high-impact scientific seminars.
• Purchasing specialized laboratory facilities and cutting-edge equipment.
• Funding graduate and postdoctoral fellowships that encourage engineering students to study gynepathologies, and young gynecologists to complete a year of basic research.
• Providing seed grants to encourage new and established investigators in other fields to apply their unique approaches to gynepathology research.
• Promoting education among women, girls, policy-makers, educators, and more
• Supporting outreach towards communities of patients, researchers, and clinicians.

Thanks to our latest funding from The Manton Foundation, we have significantly expanded the reach of our core projects:

• Living Patient Avatars: We are scaling up our synthetic hydrogel extracellular matrix (“Magic Matrix”) technology. Last year, our team successfully co-cultured human endometrial organoids and stroma in this synthetic environment, allowing us to mimic hormonal changes with incredible precision. This platform is now being shared with labs globally to test new non-hormonal pharmaceutical treatments.
• Pioneering Imaging: Through collaboration with MIT Professor Sixian You’s Computational Biophotonics Lab, we are applying multi-photon label-free imaging to endometrial biopsies. Using laser light to view tissue without chemical stains has allowed us to uncover hidden cellular structures (like Nuclear Channel Structures) linked to fertility. This grant is also funding a new, advanced microscope to expand these capabilities.
• Infectious Disease & Immunity Links: Partnering with Professor Bryan Bryson (MIT Biological Engineering / Ragon Institute) and Professor Eliezer Calo (MIT Biology), we are probing the fascinating link between prior infections (like Lyme disease) and the onset of conditions like endometriosis. Using new “x-FLIP” technology, we analyze immune responses to see if chronic environmental exposures trigger gynecological disorders.

MIT has long fostered a deep and substantial involvement of undergraduate students in research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), started in 1969 by Margaret MacVicar.

The New Horizon fund arose from a special gift from John and Karine Begg to support the research of students involved in women’s reproductive health, and endometriosis in particular. Nineteen UROP students participated in nearly 30 projects from 2010 through 2020, contributing to papers and conference presentations, and gaining professional experience in clinical translational medicine. Each term, several UROP students are paired with CGR faculty, graduate students, and postdocs to participate in both basic and translational research.

Endometriosis and adenomyosis are prominently featured in a project-based learning program led by Prof. Linda Griffith as part of MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program. Launched in 2017, NEET fosters interdisciplinary team-based learning with hands-on projects spanning from sophomore to senior year, featuring deep immersion into challenging engineering problems. One of NEET’s two inaugural threads, Living Machines, is partially supported by Bloomberg Foundation funds from the Endometriosis Foundation of America. For more information, please read our featured article, “Never Underestimate the Importance of Teaching.”

Donate to CGR by clicking here, or reach out directly to CGR Director Linda Griffith to discuss strategic giving opportunities.