Scientists at UC, Shriners land $1.3 million to conduct ground-breaking skin research
New research into skin regeneration at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Shriners Hopsital for Children – Cincinnati (SHCC), gives hope to wounded US Military personnel burn victims. And UC researches have received $1.3 million to do it, as part of an effort launched by the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), an effort to improve care for wounded soldiers funded by various branches of the US Military.UC researchers, lead by Steven Boyce, PhD, are blazing new trails in skin graft technology, exploring ways to control pigmentation (color) and grow blood vessels in engineered skin grafts – both longstanding hurdles to researchers working on improving skin graft procedures.“The ability to develop a vascular network in engineered tissue is a critical step for the body’s acceptance of the new skin. Currently, the engineered skin grafts do not have a vascular system like the rest of the body, so vascular development occurs more slowly,” says Boyce, a UC professor of surgery and researcher at SHCC.The introduction of blood vessels to skin grafts promises faster, more thorough healing with less scaring. This is delicate work.In order to create a skin graft, skin from an unburned portion of the body is harvested and placed in a solution that triggers cell division overtop a collagen-based fabric which supports the new cells in the task of organizing themselves into a coherent form suitable to the human body (aka: skin).Alongside infusing blood vessels into engineered skin grafts, controlling the color they carry is another challenge altogether.“The goal is to tailor the process…so we can more closely match the new skin to the person’s original skin color,” Boyce says.Boyd is joined in this mission by Dorothy Supp, PhD and associate researcher at Shriners Burns Hospital.UC has a hand in AFIRM via subcontract with Rutgers University, which leads a consortium across several universities. Writer: Jonathan DeHartSource: University of Cincinnati, Shriners Hospital for Children – Cincinnati
