Regenerative Medicine and holistic approaches to scarring

28th June 2013

 

Tony Metcalfe square It is over 50 years since the death of the pioneering plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe. He is remembered by many for the innovation and care that he brought to burns and plastic surgery treatment during and after the Second World War. The Blond McIndoe Research Foundation (BMRF) is a research charity, founded by Neville and Elaine Blond in 1961 in memory of Sir Archibald McIndoe. Its mission was to fulfil his vision to advance the science of wound healing and tissue repair using both surgical and holistic advancements in treatment to benefit future generations. The BMRF is located on the site of Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead (QVH) in West Sussex which encourages a unique working relationship between scientists and plastic surgeons to continue that vision and translate scientific research into new therapies. 

In a new joint venture between the BMRF and The University of Brighton (UoB), Professor Tony Metcalfe has been appointed as Director of Research at the BMRF and Professor of Burns & Wound Healing Research at UoB. At the BMRF, he will work closely with colleagues in Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences, other University departments and the QVH to develop new techniques and approaches in Regenerative Medicine. Here, Tony discusses the work of the Foundation and plans for future research.

For many people, scarring is a serious problem, causing pain, itch, redness, loss of motion, and disfigurement eg. burns and accident survivors, who can have significant scarring over large areas of their bodies. One of the aims of the BMRF is to improve the present treatments available to burns survivors and people with traumatic injuries and reduce any associated scarring.

It is critical for successful interdisciplinary translational research to gain clinician and patient input to the research programme that is being developed. This ensures that at the outset scientists are fully appraised of the requirements of the clinician but also equally importantly the problems that the patient faces or has to contend with as a consequence of the injury, its treatment or the healing process.

At the BMRF, the research programme aims to develop new methodologies using cells and biomaterials together to achieve a more rapid wound closure and create an environment to support a more regenerative healing process. The research team at the BMRF are carrying out a number of projects which include delivering keratinocyte stem cells for the treatment of burn injuries, investigating the role of pH during healing in burns, investigating the role of adipose tissue in soft tissue reconstruction, the development of novel nanomaterials and a study of the molecular mechanisms underlying malignant melanoma.

Future research at the BMRF will be directed to better understand the processes of wound healing, infection, scarring and fibrosis and to address the question of why humans have lost the ability to regenerate structural components of the skin, like nerves, blood vessels, hair follicles, sebaceous and sweat glands. Extensive burns injuries and the subsequent scarring that develops, creates not only physical problems for the patients but there is a psychological impact that Sir Archibald recognised. As part of the new research programme a holistic approach will be developed with patient participatory research programmes to gain a much better understanding of the impact of such injuries to patients’ lifestyles.

If Sir Archibald were here today, I am sure that he would be at the forefront of the latest innovative techniques in plastic surgery and regenerative medicine, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and exploring techniques that might seem impossible. That is how the BMRF intends to take hold of his legacy: using modern regenerative medicine techniques to develop new approaches to scar reduction in burns, tissue repair and wound healing.

The Blond McIndoe Research Foundation depends entirely on donations to keep it at the forefront of burns and wound healing research. If you wish to know more about its work, get involved in its activities or to donate to its research activity please visit www.blondmcindoe.org

Tony Metcalfe
 

 

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