Strategic Initiative Fund (SIF)

Michigan Center for Human Immunology Model Systems (MiCHIM)

The Michigan Center for Human Immunology Model Systems (MiCHIM) will establish the University of Michigan as a national leader in human-centered immunology research by creating a shared core facility that equips researchers with induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human immune cells and humanized mouse models; tools that will both advance fundamental discovery of how the human immune system works and better predict how new treatments will perform in people, speeding the path from new knowledge to patient care. Traditional animal models often fail to predict human immune responses because of major species differences between mice and humans, contributing to high rates of failed translation in drug development and clinical trials.

In partnership with U-M's Human Stem Cell & Gene Editing Core, which generates the validated iPSC lines used to create these immune cells, the center will provide two resources: iPSC-derived human immune cells to study the effects of genetic and drug responses on immune cell function, and human immune cells transplanted into mice able to host a human immune system to study human immune systems in living models. The center aims to provide a resource that will initiate new discovery and translational research projects, advance scientific publications, provide critical human translation to basic discovery in immunobiology, and move new discoveries in human immunology toward real treatments that change outcomes for patients.