The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Stepping Strong Innovator Awards.
Each year, the Stepping Strong Innovator Awards support research and innovation across the continuum of trauma care from prevention to treatment and recovery. The following individuals received this year’s awards:
Injuries from severe trauma accidents can cause large open bone fractures and bone defects that are prone to poor bone healing and high rates of infection following orthopaedic trauma surgery. To minimize the need for patients to have follow-up surgeries after trauma, and even to prevent amputations, Omid Farokhzad, MD, MBA, successfully developed collagen patches with nanoparticles—small, biodegradable robots—that can deliver antibiotics and other drugs to promote bone growth and wound healing in a safer, controlled, and more efficient way than current approaches. With the additional Stepping Strong funding, Farokzhad and his team plan to enhance their product, apply the patches in animal models, and facilitate the clinical translation of the product, with commercialization anticipated in two to three years.
When faced with a traumatic injury, tourniquets can control bleeding and save lives. But because they restrict blood flow to tissues, with prolonged use, these life-saving pieces of equipment can also cause damage to limbs or life-threatening ischemic complications. To solve for this, Giorgio Giatsidis, MD, PhD, is developing a device that uses controlled, localized cooling to minimize the ischemic damage in injured limbs to which a tourniquet is applied. The goal is to apply the device to injured limbs immediately after application of a tourniquet, and then remove the device at the same time as the tourniquet, when blood flow to the limb is restored. A tool like this, utilized in civilian and military trauma settings, would reduce the amount of limb damage, amputations, and systemic injuries that can follow tourniquet application.
Amid a critical gap in trauma research funding, The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation catalyzes multidisciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration to transform care for civilian and military heroes recovering from traumatic injury.
Learn more about the work we fund and stay connected to future Innovator Award opportunities.
Your gift today can transform trauma care and save lives tomorrow.
