Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Skin fibrosis, such as hypertrophic scarring and keloid, is frequently seen fallowing trauma, thermal injuries and surgical incisions. These conditions, caused by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) production or abnormalities in ECM remodeling, are clinically raised, firm, itchy, bulky, and inelastic and limit the mobility of joints. Current treatment modalities for this devastating condition still remain unsatisfactory, raised a great need for innovation within wound care industry. Our goal is to develop a new generation of anti-scaring wound care products including wound dressing for open wounds and strips for closed wounds. In this regard a safe recently found anti-scaring small molecule will be encapsulated in nanofibers to produce slow releasing drug delivery systems. The effect of these drug delivery systems on functionality, ECM production and viability of skin cells will be evaluated. Biofunctional wound dressing and strips will be developed by using these nanofibers and efficacy of these novel wound care products in improving and/or preventing scaring will be evaluated in animal models. These novel wound care products that will facilitate controlled release of the anti-scaring drug, will improve healing outcome and the quality of life in millions of patients who are prone to develop scaring after burn injuries or surgeries. The benefits of our novel anti-scaring system for both the health care providers and Canadian patients is four-fold:1)to ease the pain and many difficulties associated with wound contractures that affect physical activity;2) to improve and/or prevent skin disfiguring conditions in these patients who likely to have long-term psychological implications;3)to reduce the cost of long term treatment, rehabilitation and many post-reconstructive surgeries and finally,4)to provide valuable knowledge for the fields of both drug delivery and wound healing, while producing results and information that can be easily translated to the clinic.