The Wound Healing Translational Research Laboratory

The Falanga laboratory is a stem cell and molecular biological laboratory focused on cutaneous wound healing and translational research. Dr.Falanga has a well-recognized and established career in wound healing. He quickly became interested in TGF-β1, and worked closely and collaborated with Drs. Anita Roberts and Michael Sporn of NCI. His interest in growth factors led his lab to advances in both basic science and clinical research. He and members of his lab were the lead authors of the use of bioengineered skin in chronic wounds, the first such therapy approved by the FDA. Over the last few years, the focus has been on stem cells and their biology.  He and his research team may have been the first in the world to use autologous cultured bone marrow-derived stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells) in the treatment of human chronic wounds. This led to being awarded an ongoing NIH R01 grant focused on the use of these stem cells in venous ulcers. More recently, the lab has been interested in the biology and the wound healing effects of human and mouse very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs).The lab has developed a novel mouse tail full-thickness wound healing model that does not contract, thus relying on epidermal migration from the wound margins for full wound closure.