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Grant Award

BU Researchers Awarded NIH Grant to Investigate Chronic Wound Stress as a Driver of Aging

Researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have received a two-year, $686,700 R61 grant from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) to explore whether chronic wound stress accelerates the aging process and contributes to functional decline.

The project, “Stress-Induced Aging: Investigating Chronic Wound Stress as a Catalyst for Systemic Aging and Functional Decline,” is led by Daniel S. Roh, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery; Vladimir A. Botchkarev, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology and co-director of the BU Center for Aging Research; and LaDora V. Thompson, PhD, BS, PT, the Travis M. Roy Professor in BU’s Sargent College of Rehabilitation Sciences.

This award is part of a larger NIA initiative to study how stressors experienced in adulthood, whether physical, social, or environmental, affect the hallmarks of aging. The two-phase program begins with exploratory R61 awards to test whether specific stressors cause measurable aging-related changes, followed by potential R33 awards to expand these findings and evaluate long-term impacts on lifespan, resilience, and health interventions.

Chronic wounds such as diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, and pressure sores are common in older adults, notoriously difficult to heal, and often recur. Beyond the immediate damage, they place recurring stress on the body and may contribute to broader age-related conditions including frailty, muscle weakness, and weakened immunity. The BU team will study whether this repeated wound stress accelerates both the biological and physical processes of aging.

In the R61 exploratory phase, Roh’s team will create a new experimental model to simulate prolonged wound stress during adulthood and assess its effects on both biological aging markers (including inflammation, senescence, and epigenetic changes) and physical decline (frailty, sarcopenia, and immune dysfunction).  If successful, the R33 phase (pending additional funding) will expand the research to examine how pre-existing frailty intensifies these effects and to test potential interventions such as senolytic drugs, anti-inflammatory therapies, and exercise to slow or reverse aging-related decline attributed to the repeated stress of chronic wounds.

About the Investigators

• Dr. Daniel S. Roh is a plastic surgeon at Boston Medical Center and assistant professor of surgery. His research focuses on wound healing, age-related repair deficits, and scarring disorders such as hypertrophic scars and keloids.
• Dr. Vladimir A. Botchkarev is professor of dermatology and co-director of the BU Center for Aging Research. He studies how epigenetic changes, stem cell regulation, and aging influence wound repair and cancer development.
• Dr. LaDora V. Thompson is the Travis M. Roy Professor in BU’s Department of Physical Therapy, Sargent College. She investigates mechanisms of frailty and muscle weakness and strategies to preserve physical function with aging.