Regenerative wound healing and preventing scar formation with HBI

What if you could heal a wound without a scar, or increase quality-of-life for a burns patient facing scars for life?

That's exactly what Entrepreneurial PhD Scholar Michaela George is researching, in collaboration with AIBN Industry Partner Dr Jason Brown from the Herston Biofabrications Institute (HBI) within the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital.

Dr Brown, who leads for the Burns, Skin and Wounds team at HBI, said innovation such as this could have a number of positive effects for burns and wound patients.

"In burns surgery, one of our biggest problems is scar formation," Dr Brown said.

"As humans we tend to heal by scar because in nature there are no beauty prizes for survival.

"A lot of that is driven by the immune system, and our current scholarship holder is working on looking at what part of the immune system drives that scar process, so we can look at novel ways to interfere and intervene with that."

“When it came to doing my PhD, I wanted to have a translational focus so that I could work towards something that can positively impact the lives of others and broader society," Michaela said.

"By elucidating the pathways through which immune cells respond to extracellular matrix stimulus, we can design smart biomaterials to provide therapeutic solutions for chronic wounds, and prevent scar formation."

Michaela is a recipient of the UQ Entrepreneurial Top-Up Scholarship and scholar in the Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation & Leadership. HBI are a valued collaborator, and Industry Partner, with AIBN.