Planning: Track 1 EFRI DCL - Organoid-Directed Muscle Control

The proposed planning grant activities aim to broaden the participation of students, researchers, and faculty at Boise State University by engaging national leaders in key research areas via training workshops and forming vertically integrated project (VIP) research teams to germinate new ideas, support future research directions, and improve student training. The research focus that will guide the proposed activities will focus on organoid-directed muscle control, and will help coalesce research in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, computing, and biological sciences to respond to the challenge of developing organoid-intelligent systems. The team will also use integrative team activities and convergent team training workshops to develop a comprehensive understanding of the ethical, legal, and social Implications of biocomputing through engineered organoid intelligence. The Boise State University team aims to broaden the participation of researchers, including early career faculty, faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and researchers from underserved groups, by 1) conducting an Organoid-Based Biological Computing Workshop and 2) organizing professional development workshops that train researchers in techniques for collaborating across disciplines. The team will promote the planned workshops to other institutions inside and outside Idaho that are part of the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), and Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research EPSCoR programs. The expected outcomes from the workshops include forming a VIP team, developing proposal concepts for organoid-based biocomputing, developing an understanding of the ethical considerations inherent in working with organoid intelligence, and recruitment of Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) researchers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.