Mission Statement
The Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing Laboratory is a basic science research group that is dedicated to furthering the understanding of wound and tissue healing with an emphasis on clinical applications for medicine.
Executive Summary
The Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering Laboratory is discovering the scientific and translational knowledge necessary to develop cost-effective wound healing technologies.
Novel devices are needed to address the growing number of complex wounds.
Each year health professionals treat 10.8 million complex wounds in the US. This number is expected to increase dramatically as America ages and the rates of diabetes and obesity increase. The US market for advanced wound care products is currently $2.1 billion, excluding costs for hospitalization and professional fees. Clearly, new cost-effective methods of wound closure are necessary to reduce amputation rates, pain, and the financial burden associated with complex wounds. We believe strategies that stimulate controlled mitogenesis and angiogenesis will be effective technologies in wound healing.
New products for wound healing will utilize physical stimuli to induce mitogenesis.
Despite the anticipated benefits, topical growth factors have been extensively investigated and have only a limited clinical role. We believe that applying micro-mechanical forces to wounds adds an exciting therapeutic array of treatment options. These mechanical forces can then be used in conjunction with growth factors and matrix analogs.
The current regulatory environment must be factored into product design.
Researchers utilizing biology-based technologies such as gene therapy and embryonic stem cells confront difficult regulatory and ethical barriers to introduction. Devices that rely on physical (e.g. mechanical, fluidic, electrical, or magnetic) stimulation of wounds face less severe regulatory barriers.
The Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering Laboratory is well positioned to discover the scientific basis of wound healing and develop effective technologies.
Our focus is on developing new technologies and improving existing therapies combining effective engineering methods with proven biologic approaches. We combine a broad range of analysis including mathematical modeling, in vitro and in vivo models as well as clinical trials to provide solid evidence for innovative technologies. We seek research funding from both industrial and governmental sources and direct our efforts to projects that have a high probability of improving clinical care. We are now at a critical point in our development. We believe that the recruitment of a full-time Ph.D. scientist will accelerate our efforts.
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Contact
Please feel free to contact Dr. Dennis Orgill's office for further information regarding the Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing Laboratory or for a request of lab publications.
Dennis P. Orgill, M.D., Ph.D.
Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing Laboratory
Division of Plastic Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
dorgill@partners.org
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