The William & Eleanor Cave Award

Throughout his career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Tagle has demonstrated an unwavering commitment both to advancing human health and reducing reliance on animal models for biomedical research. He has been instrumental in establishing microphysiological systems (MPS), such as organ-on-chip technologies, as foundational technologies in the transition to human-based alternative methods.

In his role as Director of the Office of Special Initiatives at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at NIH, Dr. Tagle founded and ran the single largest federal funding initiative for alternative methods to date, NIH’s Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program. In 2012, NIH and DARPA set out to support development of human-based MPS models of ten major organ systems, with Dr. Tagle leading this effort for NIH. The success of these efforts has fundamentally changed the landscape for human-based, non-animal methods in biomedical research in the US, and his 14-year leadership of the Tissue Chip Program has left an indelible mark on the history of MPS technologies.

In 2025, NIH announced the Complement-ARIE initiative, with the explicit goal of supporting the development, standardization, validation, and implementation of alternative or new approach methods. This ten-year initiative will invest almost $500 million in funding for non-animal biomedical models to study human health and disease, supporting a range of activities to transform the biomedical research enterprise, including technology development centers, data centers, support for regulatory implementation, and engagement and training efforts. Dr. Tagle was once again a driving force in creating and successfully implementing this unprecedented funding initiative.

During his tenure at NIH, Dr. Tagle has been a vocal advocate for human-based research approaches that more accurately model human health and disease to address the most challenging questions about human biology. This commitment to improving human health has led to the largest federal investment in alternatives science in the US. ADRF thanks Dr. Tagle for his decades of public service and for creating the opportunity for alternative methods to demonstrate their full potential as models for biomedical research. The award was presented to Dr. Tagle at the American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology (ASCCT) 15th Annual Meeting on October 27, 2026 in Durham, North Carolina.