Powell Receives $1.3M Award from Shriners Hospitals for Children

Heather Powell, assistant professor materials science and engineering and biomedical engineering, has been awarded a five-year grant of $1.3M to help improve pressure therapy for burn victims. The award is funded through the Shriners Hospitals for Children Research Foundation. Her work will be conducted in collaboration with co-investigators Chandan K. Sen and Dorothy Supp, from the University of Cincinnati.

Pressure garments are a mainstay of current burn therapy, but their mechanism of action is poorly understood and controversy remains regarding their effectiveness. In addition, the optimal levels of pressure and daily duration of application are not known, nor are the molecular mechanisms responsible for scar reduction.

The project, entitled “Compression garments: understanding mechanical regulation of scar development,” will seek to discover the mechanisms responsible for improved scar elasticity and thereby optimize delivery of pressure therapy. The researchers will test the central hypothesis that compressive forces control scar development in a magnitude and time dependent manner, and uncovering the molecular pathways through which these forces are translated will guide development of novel strategies to improve scar prevention and promote patient compliance.