New Five-Year NIH Grant to Study Ultrasound and Wound Healing Awarded to a Multi-Disciplinary Team of Engineers, Scientists, and Physicians

Diane Dalecki, Ph.D. (BME) and Denise Hocking, Ph.D. (Pharmacology and Physiology) are multi-PIs on a new, R01 NIH grant entitled "Mechanisms for Wound Healing with Ultrasound." The grant was awarded by the NIBIB for a five-year period. The overall goal of the project is to identify key biological and physical mechanisms for ultrasound-enhanced soft tissue wound healing in order to develop the use of ultrasound for chronic wound therapy. The guiding hypothesis of the work is that mechanical forces associated with ultrasound propagation are capable of triggering conformational changes to extracellular matrix proteins that in turn enhance cell growth and contractility, stimulate cellular migration, promote collagen organization and mechanical strength, and increase blood flow to tissues. The multi-disciplinary team of engineers, basic scientists, and physicians on the project are Ingrid Sarelius, Ph.D. (Pharmacology and Physiology), Sheryl Gracewski, Ph.D. (ME), Sabine Brouxhon, M.D. (Emergency Medicine), Charles Francis, M.D. (Medicine/Hematology), and Edwin Carstensen, Ph.D. (ECE).