Grant Will Help Wounded Soldiers Recover from Facial Injuries
“This project investigates how soft tissue grafting can more precisely restore facial form and improve the lives of our wounded soldiers,” Dr. Peter Rubin says.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
faculty member J. Peter Rubin, MD (pictured), Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, has received a major funding award from the Department of Defense (DOD) to help wounded soldiers recover from devastating facial injuries using innovative surgical technologies based on the biology of fat tissue.
The research program involves the treatment of 20 injured soldiers with facial injuries. “As many as 26% of wounded soldiers suffer facial injuries and these can have a great impact on quality of life. While we can reconstruct the bony structure fairly well, it is the surrounding soft tissues that give people the recognizable human form. This project investigates how soft tissue grafting can more precisely restore facial form and improve the lives of our wounded soldiers,” Dr. Rubin says.
The 1.6 million dollar funding award, known as The Biomedical Translational Initiative, is a program under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The program objective of The Biomedical Translational Initiative is to fund the demonstration and validation of innovative technologies to improve the clinical outcome of wounded military personnel.
“Fat grafting, or moving fat tissue from one part of the body to another, has been used as a cosmetic procedure for decades,” comments Dr. Rubin, “but we are now applying this technology for reconstructive surgery to accurately restore facial form after battlefield injuries.” The use of fat grafting for serious facial injuries, such as those resulting from roadside bombs, is facilitated in this project by specially designed devices and instruments for harvesting the fat tissue and implanting it into regions of scarred tissue.
Dr. Rubin assembled a team of specialists for this study with diverse and complimentary expertise. Researchers within the University of Pittsburgh include McGowan Institute faculty member Dr. Kacey Marra, co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center; Dr. Gretchen Haas, an expert on measuring the psychological effects of battlefield injuries and how they improve with treatment; and Dr. Barton Branstetter, a radiologist who specializes in high resolution imaging of the face. Other specialists working on this project include Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York plastic surgeon who pioneered fat grafting surgery; and Colonel Robert Hale, a military surgeon and expert in facial trauma.
Dr. Rubin has a long track record of scientific investigation. In addition to his active clinical program in plastic surgery after weight loss, he directs a basic science research program in the biology of adipose-derived stem cells and serves as co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the principal investigator in an NIH-funded line of research aimed at developing cell-based methods for clinical soft tissue reconstruction after cancer therapy. He directs a related line of research aimed at soft tissue reconstruction for injured soldiers as an investigator for the DOD Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine. His many scientific leadership positions include past president of the International Society of Adipose Therapeutics and Science (IFATS), past Board Chair of IFATS, past Chairman of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Fat Grafting Task Force. Dr. Rubin is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The Presidential Award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their research careers. It is intended to recognize some of the finest scientists who show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the twenty-first century.
Dr. Rubin has maintained a strong focus on the process of moving scientific innovations from the laboratory to the clinic and is excited about the opportunity to bring these treatments to military personnel. “It is really a privilege to be able to apply new advances in surgical science to help wounded soldiers, and we are hopeful that we can make a difference for them.”
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Read more…
The Biomedical Translational Initiative
The Adipose Stem Cell Center
Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Bio: Dr. Peter Rubin
Bio: Dr. Kacey Marra
The research program involves the treatment of 20 injured soldiers with facial injuries. “As many as 26% of wounded soldiers suffer facial injuries and these can have a great impact on quality of life. While we can reconstruct the bony structure fairly well, it is the surrounding soft tissues that give people the recognizable human form. This project investigates how soft tissue grafting can more precisely restore facial form and improve the lives of our wounded soldiers,” Dr. Rubin says.
The 1.6 million dollar funding award, known as The Biomedical Translational Initiative, is a program under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The program objective of The Biomedical Translational Initiative is to fund the demonstration and validation of innovative technologies to improve the clinical outcome of wounded military personnel.
“Fat grafting, or moving fat tissue from one part of the body to another, has been used as a cosmetic procedure for decades,” comments Dr. Rubin, “but we are now applying this technology for reconstructive surgery to accurately restore facial form after battlefield injuries.” The use of fat grafting for serious facial injuries, such as those resulting from roadside bombs, is facilitated in this project by specially designed devices and instruments for harvesting the fat tissue and implanting it into regions of scarred tissue.
Dr. Rubin assembled a team of specialists for this study with diverse and complimentary expertise. Researchers within the University of Pittsburgh include McGowan Institute faculty member Dr. Kacey Marra, co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center; Dr. Gretchen Haas, an expert on measuring the psychological effects of battlefield injuries and how they improve with treatment; and Dr. Barton Branstetter, a radiologist who specializes in high resolution imaging of the face. Other specialists working on this project include Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York plastic surgeon who pioneered fat grafting surgery; and Colonel Robert Hale, a military surgeon and expert in facial trauma.
Dr. Rubin has a long track record of scientific investigation. In addition to his active clinical program in plastic surgery after weight loss, he directs a basic science research program in the biology of adipose-derived stem cells and serves as co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the principal investigator in an NIH-funded line of research aimed at developing cell-based methods for clinical soft tissue reconstruction after cancer therapy. He directs a related line of research aimed at soft tissue reconstruction for injured soldiers as an investigator for the DOD Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine. His many scientific leadership positions include past president of the International Society of Adipose Therapeutics and Science (IFATS), past Board Chair of IFATS, past Chairman of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Fat Grafting Task Force. Dr. Rubin is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The Presidential Award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their research careers. It is intended to recognize some of the finest scientists who show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the twenty-first century.
Dr. Rubin has maintained a strong focus on the process of moving scientific innovations from the laboratory to the clinic and is excited about the opportunity to bring these treatments to military personnel. “It is really a privilege to be able to apply new advances in surgical science to help wounded soldiers, and we are hopeful that we can make a difference for them.”
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Read more…
The Biomedical Translational Initiative
The Adipose Stem Cell Center
Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Bio: Dr. Peter Rubin
Bio: Dr. Kacey Marra