Vail, Colorado, Aug. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI) a grant to study the correlation between pregnancy and wound healing. The announcement was made today by Dr. Marc Philippon, managing partner of The Steadman Clinic and co-chair of SPRI and Dan Drawbaugh, CEO of The Steadman Clinic and SPRI. The principal investigator is Dr. Johnny Huard, Chief Scientific Officer and director of the Center for Regenerative Sports Medicine at SPRI.
“Dr. Huard and his team have been recognized for groundbreaking research performed at our state-of-the-art laboratories at SPRI,” said Drawbaugh. “The NIH putting its trust in the research at SPRI is an honor, but also a testament to Dr. Huard and the years of medical breakthroughs he and his fellow researchers have dedicated their lives to delivering.”
The project will specifically look at the effects of circulating factors and progenitors on wound healing during pregnancy. Dr. Huard’s preliminary data demonstrated improved muscle healing after injury in pregnant mice.
“We propose to investigate whether pregnancy accelerates wound healing of the skeletal muscle and skin, and what is responsible for this beneficial effect,” said Dr. Huard. “Our research will use mouse models of wound healing as well as skin biopsies from pregnant and non-pregnant women after surgery. At this point, our hypothesis shows the presence of fetal cells in maternal circulation may play a beneficial role in repairing damaged maternal tissues.
“The results obtained from this study will help identify rejuvenating factors and novel stem cells within blood circulation during pregnancy. We are investigating the potential of developing new and clinically relevant therapies to improve wound healing and reduce scarring.”
This award follows a recent NIH research award to investigate bone abnormalities and healing defects in connection with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).