On October 24th, Oceanit CEO Dr. Patrick K. Sullivan joined Hawaii Public Radio’s Catherine Cruz on an episode of The Conversation to discuss Oceanit’s new work on Organoids, miniature self-organized synthetic organs that replicate the complexities of real organs for biomedical research.

“An organoid is a synthetic organ, which isn’t built to be installed in a human but is an incredible device for testing, so that you’re not sacrificing animals unduly. And so you can rapidly test lots of things, and you can do this in an automated way,” said Oceanit President and CEO Patrick Sullivan.

Organoids hold the potential to eventually eliminate animal testing altogether, in addition to accelerating medical research and trials, and improving our understanding of diseases. Organoids allow researchers to study how a new treatment or therapy might affect a specific part of the body before applying the intervention. Oceanit’s biomedical team is currently collaborating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, studying the lymphatic system, part of the human immune system that comprises tissues and organs that protect the body from infection and disease. The lymphatic system can be vulnerable to cancers and other life-threatening disorders, and organoids could be key to uncovering better treatments sooner.

Click here to listen to The Conversation featuring Dr. Sullivan.