Delta Tissue

Delta Tissue — Execution

Funds United Kingdom tissue profiling research for improved diagnostics and disease state understanding.

Delta Tissue is a $55 million Wellcome Leap program developing platforms to profile tissue states and predict disease progression transitions — what the program describes as a "tissue time machine" capable of predicting future disease progression with sufficient precision to enable present-day intervention. Program Director Jason Swedlow, PhD — a chromosome segregation expert and co-founder of the Open Microscopy Environment (OME) open-source biological imaging platform — leads a multi-team effort spanning universities, foundations, and private-sector organizations. A core design goal is to reduce barriers to advanced tissue-profiling technologies, making platforms accessible not only to academic centers but also to startups, small and medium enterprises, biopharma companies, and clinical settings.

The inaugural solicitation cycle has closed and performer teams have been selected. As of mid-2026, Delta Tissue is in active execution with no open call for new performers. The program's $55 million pool — the same scale as the VISIBLE program — reflects Wellcome Leap's standard large-program funding envelope. Eligible organization types for the original solicitation followed Wellcome Leap's standard global model, covering universities, research institutions, and private-sector organizations without country restrictions. Contracts follow Wellcome Leap's milestone-based performer model, holding teams accountable to defined deliverables throughout the execution period.

Organizations working on spatial transcriptomics, tissue imaging, multi-omics profiling, or disease progression modeling should track Wellcome Leap for any future Delta Tissue solicitation cycles. The emphasis on platform accessibility — bridging academic, startup, and clinical deployment contexts — distinguishes Delta Tissue from programs focused solely on basic research output. Future applications from organizations that can demonstrate both technical depth in tissue-state profiling and a credible path to accessible deployment will be well-positioned.