The mission of The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation is to catalyze multidisciplinary collaborations that inspire groundbreaking innovation, effective prevention, and compassionate intervention to transform care for civilians and military heroes who endure traumatic injuries and events.
The Stepping Strong Innovator Awards program inspires multi-institutional faculty to pursue groundbreaking innovation with a goal of transforming outcomes for civilians and military heroes worldwide.
The Stepping Strong Injury Prevention and Intervention program aims to reduce the number and severity of traumatic injuries resulting from elderly falls, gun violence, distracted driving, and substance use.
The Stepping Strong Plastic Surgery Trauma Fellowship is a unique program designed to train the next generation of medical leaders in advanced and innovative techniques for treating acute and complex injury.
True to the Boston Strong spirit of kindness and collaboration, the members of the Stepping Strong community are inspired to come together to help those with traumatic injuries step strong again.
The formation of bone in soft tissue (heterotopic ossification) is a significant barrier to patient recovery after a musculoskeletal injury.
Shailesh Agarwal, MD, a plastic and reconstructive #surgeon at the Brigham and a 2019 #steppingstrong Innovator Award recipient, found a protein that significantly reduces HO, but it is difficult and expensive to manufacture as a therapy and requires patients to receive repeated injections over a long period of time. To solve this, Dr. Agarwal aims to create a technology that uses a patient’s own fat tissue to express the protein. The existence of a cost-effective biologic drug would greatly improve healing for patients who suffer from #musculoskeletalinjury.
With the help of color-changing fibers, MIT researchers including Associate Professor Mathias Kolle (and 2018 Stepping Strong Innovator awardee) have developed a mathematical model to predict a knot’s stability.
Published in @sciencemagazine this study was partly funded by #steppingstrong
Knots play a fundamental role in multiple biological and physical systems, from DNA to turbulent plasmas, as well as in life — climbing, weaving, sailing, and surgery. Despite having been studied for centuries, the interplay between topology and mechanics in elastic knots remains poorly understood. In this study the researchers combined optomechanical experiments with theory and simulations to analyze knotted fibers that change their color under mechanical deformations. Exploiting an analogy with long-range ferromagnetic spin systems, they identified simple topological counting rules to predict the relative mechanical stability of knots and tangles, in agreement with simulations and experiments for commonly used climbing and sailing bends. These results highlight the importance of twist and writhe in unknotting processes, providing guidance for the control of systems with complex entanglements.
*Virtual Lunch & Learn*
Mark your calendar for the first Stepping Strong Injury Prevention Lunch & Learn of 2021: Wednesday, January 13, 11am. The session will include a round-table discussion and presentations from organizations including Youth Connect, YOU Boston, and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.
Contact clang4@bwh.harvard.edu to receive a calendar invitation.
#steppingstrong #steppingstrongboston #injury #injuryprevention #prevention #trauma
*Stepping Strong News*
From 2001-2014, more than 25,000 pedestrians were struck by vehicles in Massachusetts, resulting in unacceptably high numbers of preventable pedestrian injuries. To address this issue, the #steppingstrong center is awarding a $25K grant to WalkBoston -- the only statewide pedestrian advocacy organization in Massachusetts. The funds will be used to implement a training program to greater Boston’s Level 1 Trauma Centers, giving staff the necessary tools to pursue pedestrian safety improvements as a component of their injury prevention efforts, and laying the groundwork for national efforts. 👏👏
#boston #walkboston #massachusetts #walk #grant #funding #igersboston
*Research highlight*
An ultraportable device for rescuing limbs.
Congratulations to Breakthrough Award recipient Bohdan Pomahac, and first author Dr. Valentin Haug, on the publication of a recent article in Military Medicine, entitled Comparison of Acellular Solutions for Ex-situ Perfusion 👏👏
#steppingstrong #steppingstrongboston #innovation #surgery #surgeons #transplantation #instascience
Multidisciplinary teams of Stepping Strong research scholars continue to push the boundaries of transformative trauma-related research care.
Dennis Orgill, MD, PhD, and his team are working to develop better technologies to treat wounds, prevent amputations, and regenerate tissues.
His team, led by Dr Adriana Panayi, is currently investigating the effect of micromechanical forces applied through Negative Pressure Wound Therapy on wound healing, specifically looking at the formation of lymphatics.
Picture: Immunofluorescent staining of lymphatic vessels of a wound treated with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy.
#steppingstrong #steppingstrongboston #research #wound #healing #immunofluorescence #womeninsurgery #womeninstem #stem #innovation
With 2020 coming to a close, we’d like to thank all of you for following us and helping us spread the message and mission of #steppingstrong 💙💛💖 Even though this account is only 4 months young, our followership is growing every day! Thank you to all our followers who have helped us share our news, from novel surgical techniques and research innovation, to our runners’ and fundraisers immense achievements! Thank you for all that you do for us, and here’s to a safer and better year in 2021!! 💙💖💛
*Collaborator Feature*
Since 2016, the FORTE project has produced and disseminated several important findings:
Routine collection of long-term trauma outcomes is feasible
Patient factors (age, gender, race, education) are more important than injury-related factors (injury severity or location) in predicting long-term outcomes
Poor long-term outcomes after injury tend to be associated with each other within and across different health domains (mental, physical, social)
High resilience and strong social support are potentially modifiable key factors for successful recovery after traumatic injury
Vulnerable populations are likely to experience worse long-term outcomes after injury.
For example:
Firearm injury survivors are 3x more likely to suffer from chronic pain compared to motor vehicle crash survivors
Illicit drug users are 9x more likely to suffer from mental health conditions after injury than non-users
*Funding opportunity*
The #SteppingStrong Center Explorer Grant provides #funding to healthcare professionals and students seeking to develop their knowledge, networks, and understanding of #traumaticinjury, to promote interest in the field, and to build community. Post-docs, residents, clinical fellows, and medical students in the Greater Boston area are invited to apply for grants up to $2,000.
Expenses must be related to recognized medical, scientific, or technical conferences or other training opportunities that align with the Stepping Strong Center’s mission and vision, and the applicant must explain how the opportunity relates to their medical training or research areas. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
The #steppingstrong family would like to send everyone warm #holidaywishes !! We’d like to take this opportunity to express our #gratitude for your incredible support 💕💛💙 #steppingstrongboston
The implications of the #COVID19 pandemic reach beyond the effects of the virus itself. New sources of stress and disruptions to our daily routines are contributing to increased risk of injury for many members of our community. The #SteppingStrong Center team has compiled a list of resources to help combat the risk of injury while social distancing. Check it out using the link in our bio!
#injuryprevention #injury #trauma #coronavirus #steppingstrongboston
Check out our circle of interaction on @twitter 💙💛💕 and if you are on #twitter follow the #steppingstrong account handle: steppingstrong1 thank you to all for making this account grow and for helping us spread our passion and commitment to improving trauma care!
As we move into what will hopefully be a better 2021, the #SteppingStrong Center team would like to THANK YOU for your friendship and support.
Together, we are transforming #trauma care for patients and families around the world.
#Gratitude #SEASONSGREETINGS #BeSafe #steppingstrongboston #bwh #brighamhospital
“A moment that defines my commitment to leading the center was when Gillian and I participated in a B.A.A. 5K race. Our goal is to fuel innovation programs that lead to happy endings like Gillian’s.” — Mitchell B. Harris, MD, #steppingstrong Medical Co-director
#inspiration #steppingstrongboston #boston #medgram #hospital
Dr. Omid Farokhzad, MD, MBA, is one of the #steppingstrong Breakthrough Award recipients and along with Wei Tao, PhD, and Jinjun Shi, PhD, is investigating nanomaterials to expand treatments for traumatic injuries.
The #steppingstrong medical director, Dr. Mitch Harris approached Dr. Omid Farokhzad’s group for help after feeling exasperated by a lack of new options to heal large bone #fractures and prevent #infection . A brainstorm generated a new idea led by Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi, an instructor in Farokhzad’s lab who is developing #regenerative #medicine approaches that can accelerate the bone healing process while minimizing the risk of bacterial infection.
“If everything goes well, we can help people with large bone fractures recover faster and reduce the risk of further surgeries,” Mahmoudi says. “This would have a huge impact on patients’ recovery and quality of life.”
In the picture: Omid Farokhzad, MD, Morteza Mahmoudi, PhD, and Jinjun Shi, PhD, harness nanomedicine to develop solutions for bone healing, cancer, and other medical conditions. (Photo by Stu Rosner)
“We’re beginning to say with more confidence that both the procedure and prosthesis could work for a large population. It’s an incredible feeling knowing our work could help redefine the care of amputees and improve quality of life for the nearly 1 million people worldwide who have limb amputations each year.” - Dr. Matthew Carty on the #steppingstrong funded #amputation procedure
#innovation #trauma
Matthew J. Carty, MD, of BWH (left), confers with Hugh Herr, PhD (center), and Tyler Clites of MIT, as Jim Ewing (foreground) tests their newly developed prosthetic device. (Photo by Stu Rosner)
*Collaborator Feature*
Every year more than three million people are hospitalized from traumatic injuries in the U.S. While 96% of trauma patients survive, many suffer long-term consequences as a result of their injuries. Currently, there is no routine collection of long-term outcomes after injury in the U.S.
In an effort to understand what happens to trauma patients after discharge, and to improve their outcomes in the long-term, the Functional Outcomes and Recovery after Trauma Emergencies (FORTE) project was created in 2015. The FORTE project is a multi-institutional research collaboration that collects, analyzes, and interprets long-term patient-centered outcomes after traumatic injury in the U.S.
The FORTE team has developed a five-step approach to realize their goals:
Contact trauma survivors at 6- and 12-months post-injury to collect long-term outcomes
Merge patients’ interview data with institutional trauma registry data among other data sources to build a comprehensive long-term outcomes trauma registry
Design research studies aligned with priority areas
Analyze and Interpret long-term trauma outcomes data
Disseminate knowledge through publications and presentations at the local, national, and international level
#research #trauma #innovation #steppingstrong
*Research Highlight*
In this #steppingstrong funded publication Dr. Su Ryon Shin and her team discuss a new type of drug-delivery system: nanovesicles, whether smart-engineered or naturally-derived, which are able to target specific tissues and cells to deliver drugs
Shin et al focus on liposomes and exosomes, the production of hybrid exosome-liposome nanovesicles, and the controlled delivery and routes of administration of a hydrogel matrix for drug delivery
You can read this open access publication in the Pharmaceutics Journal by MDPI
#research #drugdelivery #innovation
Morgan Stickney is one of the few patients who have undergone the Ewin amputation procedure. This experimental surgical procedure, performed by Dr. Matthew Carty at @brighamandwomens is funded by #steppingstrong and has the potential not only to change the course of her life but also the future of amputations.
The surgery enabled her to perform complex actions and feel sensation by allowing her brain to interact with a robotic prosthetic.
#trauma #innovation #medical #surgery #plasticsurgery #research #amputation
Through our outreach activities, we seek to empower citizens and give them the tools to live a life exempt from the burden of injuries. Outreach also lets us share evidenced-based #injuryprevention discoveries with community members and policymakers with a goal of translating research into practice. One if our outreach focus areas is #trafficsafety
Here, members of the #steppingstrong community joined members of #textlesslivemore a student-led advocacy group dedicated to ending distracted driving, to demand a hands-free bill in #massachusetts
According to the National Safety Council, at least nine people die and 1,000 are injured every day in distracted driving crashes. To be clear, distracted driving isn’t just about avoiding your cellphone while driving; injuries also occur when using the GPS, changing the radio station, eating or drinking, and other behaviors that can divert your attention from the road. Clearly, much more must be done to prevent people from engaging with distractions while operating a vehicle. Recognizing this critical issue, traffic safety is a priority area for the Stepping Strong Injury Prevention Program.