July 27, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists from The Ohio State University College of Medicine were recently awarded funding from the United States Department of Defense for wound treatment research.
Chandan Sen, professor and vice chair for research in Ohio State's Department of Surgery, along with other clinical and translational researchers from the Comprehensive Wound Care Center and the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at Ohio State, are recipients of a two-year, $1.4 million grant to be used to study the benefits of using brown algae extracted from seaweed and giant kelp, specifically for the treatment of burn wounds.
After skin tissue is burned, antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause biofilms to form over the wound. Utilizing the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team of industry and academic partners, including Ohio State faculty from infectious diseases and biomedical engineering, researchers will, for the first time, use a novel model to analyze treatment options in hopes to disrupt biofilm formation, and/or devise a strategy to prevent re-formation of biofilms over burn wounds.
Biofilms, which, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), are linked to 60 percent of all chronic infections in the U.S. alone, also pose a significant threat to victims of war who suffer from burn wounds acquired in active duty.
“New treatments with topical agents that inhibit biofilm formation or promote their detachment, and reduce wound infections, could have a tremendous impact not only for military medicine, but also for civilian hospitals, wound care centers and trauma units worldwide,” says Sen.
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