The Wound Healing Society is pleased to offer recognition to deserving young scientists in the wound healing field. The purpose of the Young Investigator Award is to underscore the importance of furthering research in the area of wound healing by recognizing and rewarding top young researchers, and by facilitating the presentation and scientific discussion of new discoveries.
2022 Winners & Nominees
Young Investigator Award Winner
Kellen Chen
Characterization of Mechanoresponsive Inflammatory Cells during Wound Healing
Young Investigator Award Nominees
Harrison Shawa
COMPARING TRANSCRIPTOMES OF PAIRED ACUTE AND CHRONIC WOUNDS
Mateusz Wietecha
HEALING PHASE-SPECIFIC SIGNATURES OF WOUND FIBROBLASTS AND MATRIX PATTERNS DEFINE CANCER-ASSOCIATED FIBROBLAST SUBTYPES AND PREDICT CANCER OUTCOME
Nurul Jannah Nasir
DEFEROXAMINE IMPROVES THE WOUND MICROENVIRONMENT AND IMPROVES MUSCLE REGENERATION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF PRESSURE ULCERS
Poornachander Guda
DIABETIC DYSFUNCTIONAL EXOSOMES (DIAEXOSOMES) IMPAIR RESOLUTION OF HUMAN WOUND INFLAMMATION
Amanda Spielman
ADIPOCYTES TRANSITION TO PRO-FIBROTIC FIBROBLASTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO MUSCLE FIBROSIS FOLLOWING NERVE INJURY
Nicholas Guardino
Overcoming radiation induced oral fibrosis through the down regulation of Wnt signaling using BMP-7 inhibitors
Sara Ud-Din
A DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMISED PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL DEMONSTRATES THAT PRE-EMPTIVE PRIMING OF HUMAN SKIN WITH TOPICAL EPIGALLOCATECHIN-3-GALLATE IMPROVES CUTANEOUS SKIN SCARRING
2021 Winners & Nominees
Young Investigator Award Winner
Shamiik Mascharak
Wnt-active Engrailed-1 Lineage-negative Fibroblasts Mediate Postnatal Skin Regeneration
Young Investigator Award Finalists
Jelena Marjanovic
MiR-193b-3p In Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Master Regulator Of Impaired Wound Healing And A Tumor Protector
Umang Parikh
ENERGY METABOLISM GOVERNS THE DEGREE OF FIBROSIS IN DERMAL WOUND HEALING
Walker Short
Interleukin-10 Producing T-Lymphocytes Mitigate Dermal Fibrosis
Young Investigator Award Nominees
Juan Francisco Cortes Troncoso
Exosome Topical Therapy Delivered In Bioinspired Synthetic Protein Hydrogel Enhances Cutaneous Healing Of Diabetic Wounds
Nicholas Guardino
Adipocytes In Dermal Wounds Undergo Conversion To Pro-fibrotic Fibroblasts That Contribute To Scar Formation
Dominic Henn
CRISPR/Cas9 Editing Of Autologous Dendritic Cells To Enhance Angiogenesis And Wound Healing
Ana Tellechea
Novel Antibiotic-Free Synthetic Wound Matrix Prevents Wound Infection And Promotes Healing
2020 Winners & Nominees
Young Investigator Award Winner
Aayushi Uberoi
Commensal Microbiota Regulates Skin Barrier Function And Repair Via Signaling Through The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor
Young Investigator Award Finalists
Janos Berrera
Digit Tip Regeneration Relies On Germ Layer Restricted Wnt And Hedgehog Signaling
Joseph Kuhn
Human Nrf2-Active Multipotent Stromal Cell Exosomes Reverse Pathologic Diabetic Wound Healing
Christopher Turner
Granzyme B Contributes To Pressure Injury Severity In Aged Skin
Young Investigator Award Nominees
Trevor Leonardo
Human Tissue Repair And Regeneration - Regulatory Landscapes In Response To Injury
Nava Rijal
Theoretical-Experimental Approach To Develop Electrotherapy For Diabetic Wound Healing
Alvaro Villerreal Ponce
Epidermal Nrf2 Orchestrates Tissue Regeneration Through Regulation Of Ccl2
2019 Winners & Nominees
Epigenetic Mapping of Wound Edge from Chronic Wound Patients Using Next Generation Sequencing
Kanhaiya Singh
Finalists Yasser Almadani Georgios Theocharidis Hima Vangapandu |
Nominees Garrick Gu Karamjeet Kaur Christopher Turner Ji Won Son |
2018 Winners & Nominees
Winners Ivan Jozic |
Nominees/Finalists Michael Hu Georgios Theocharidis Amitava Das |
2017 Winners
Winners Lindsay Kalan & Mohammed Ashrafi |
2016 Winners & Nominees
Winners Mithun Sinha (ETRS Representative for 2017) Simon Barr Rivka Stone Michael Hu |
Nominees/Finalists Amita Das Maggie Hodges Sridevi Nagaraja Bing Yu |
2015 Winners & Nominees
Winners Natalie Jumper (ETRS Representative for 2016) Michael Hu Graham Walmsley Brian Wulff |
Nominees/Finalists Kasturi Ganesh Qing Lin Monika Vinish Joshua Vorstenbosch |
The WHS would like to thank the first place winner of the 2014 European Tissue Repair Society (Edinburgh, Scotland, September 10-12, 2014) for presenting at our meeting.
NOVEL FUNCTION FOR MYELOID CELL-RESTRICTED INSULIN/IGF-1 SIGNALING IN SKIN WOUND HEALING AND INFLAMMATION
Jana Knuever – Dermatology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2014 Winners & Nominees
Amitava Das
Dominik Duscher
Kasturi Ganesh Barki
Michael Hu
Ravi Sood
Sandeep Dhall
Subhadip Ghatek
Sukanta Bhattacharya
The WHS would like to thank the first place winner of the 2013 European Tissue Repair Society (Reims, France, October 23-25, 2013) for presenting at our meeting.
Polyelectrolyte Scaffolds for Cardiac Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy
Raya Bushkalova – Institute of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases, France
2013 Winners & Nominees
Alice King
Edna Suarez
Amitava Das
Shailee Patel
Kasturi Ganesh
Frank Lalezarzadeh
Guo-You Zhang
The WHS would like to thank the first place winner of the 2013 European Tissue Repair Society (Athens, Greece, October 4-5, 2012) for presenting at our meeting.
Activin- A Over-Expression in the Murine Lung Causes Pathology that Simulates Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Eirini Apostolou – - Institute of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases, Toulouse, France
2012 Winners & Nominees
Winners Swathi Balaji (ETRS Representative for 2013) Yuk Chan Amitava Das Haley Lindner |
Nominees/Finalists Alexander Cameron Sandeep Dhall Johan Junker Miguel Perez-Aso |
The WHS would like to thank the first place winner of the 2011 European Tissue Repair Society (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 5-7, 2011) for presenting at our meeting.
Impaired bone function and dwarfism in mice lacking collagen-binding integrins α2β1 and α11β1 is caused by severely diminished IGF-1 levels
Katrin Blumbach – Dermatology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2011 Winners & Nominees
Winners Victor Wong (ETRS Representative for 2012) Louis Le Melani Lighter Raul Sebastian |
Nominees/Finalists Yu Jiaao Parit Patel Farhatullah Syed Muhammad Sultan |
The WHS would also like to welcome the first place winner of the 2010 European Tissue Repair Society (Gent, Belgium, September 15-17, 2010) Tina Lucas - Department of Dermatology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2010 Winners & Nominees
Winners Bianca Chin, MD (ETRS Representative for 2011) James L. Crawford, BS Anne Han, MD Michelle C. Naylor, MD |
Nominees/Finalists Parag Butala, MD Keijiro Hori, MD Denis Knobel, MD Louis D. Le, MD |
The WHS would also like to thank the first place winner of the 2009 ETRS (Limoges, France, August 2009) Young Investigator competition: Anca Sindrilaru from Ulm Germany
2009 Winners & Nominees
Winners John Paul Tutela Syed-Rehan Hussain Rongpei Lan Phuong Nguyen |
Nominees/Finalists Selma Cetin-Ferra Taro Koyama Kenrick Kuwahara Yiqun Mo |
Previous Young Investigator Award Winners
2011 | Victor Wong - Stanford University, Stanford,CA USA MECHANICAL FORCES DICTATE MATRIX PHENOTYPE FOLLOWING CUTANEOUS INJURY VIA SKIN-SPECIFIC FOCAL ADHESION KINASE SIGNALING |
2011 | Louis Le - The Center For Molecular Fetal Therapy, Cincinnati,OH USA IL-10 RECAPITULATES THE FETAL REGENERATIVE PHENOTYPE BY REGULATION OF HYALURONAN SYNTHASES VIA A STAT3 DEPENDENT MECHANISM |
2011 | Melani Lighter - Plastic Surgery Research, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Canada OVEREXPRESSION OF CD109 ATTENUATES CUTANEOUS INFLAMMATION AND FIBROTIC RESPONSES IN VIVO |
2011 | Raul Sebastian - Department Of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland USA BURN WOUND HEALING IMPAIRMENT BY AGING IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED ANGIOGENESIS AND HOMING OF BONE MARROW DERIVED ANGIOGENIC CELLS IN MICE |
2010 | Bianca Chin, MD Distinct Gene Express Patterns Exist in Fetal Dermal Wounds that Heal Regeneratively and Fetal Dermal Wounds That Heal Reparatively with Scar |
2010 | James Crawford, BS Breaking the Cycle of Injury: Topical Puma Silencing Decreases Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Improves Diabetic Wound Healing |
2010 | Anne Han, MD Novel Molecular Techniques to Characterize the Microbial Flora in Chronic Wounds |
2010 | Michelle Naylor, MD Keloid Patients Have an Increased Propensity for Fibrocyte Differentiation |
2009 | Rongpei Lan, PhD Epithelial Regenerative Signaling Studies Using A Novel Wounding Device |
2009 | Phuong D. Nguyen, MD Mediators Of Increased Apoptosis In Stressed Diabetic Fibroblasts: P53 Control Of BAX And BCL-2 |
2009 | Syed-Rehan A. Hussain, PhD Microrna Regulates Cell Proliferation And Migration Of Human Keratinocytes And Endothelial Cells |
2009 | John Paul Tutela, MD Improved Diabetic Wound Healing Via Topical Gene Therapy: A Vascular Mechanism |
2008 | S.S. Scherer Biodegradable Poly-n-Acetyl Glucosamine (PGLCNAC) Nanofibers Enhance Wound Healing by Activating Cell Migration, Angiogenesis and Cell Proliferation |
2008 | A.R. Maldonado Identification of Altered Genomic Signatures in Diabetic Endothelial Progenitor Cells Through a Computational Systems Biology Approach |
2008 | J. Vorstenbosch Trangenic Mice Overexpressing CD109, A Novel TGF-Beta Co-Receptor, in the Skin, Display Elevated Expression of Collagen 1 and Fibronectin |
2008 | E.I. Chang Accumulation of Oxygen Free Radicals Impairs HIF-1 Alpha Transactivation Resulting in a Decreased Response to Ischemic Injury |
2007 | M.L. Petreaca VEGF Promotes Macrophage Apoptosis Through Stimulation of Tumor Necrosis Factor Superfamily Member 14 (TNFSF14/Light) |
2007 | S.S. Vaikunth Cultured Skin Substitutes (CSS): An Ideal Model for the Study of Angiogenesis and Vasculogenesis |
2007 | C.F. Schierle Silicone Gel Occlusion Suppresses Epidermal Activation in a Murine Cutaneous Wound Model |
2007 | P.R. Arany Healing Wound as a Tumor Microenvironment Niche |
2006 | R. Aslam Neovascularization Induced by Lactate May Involve Stem Cell Homing |
2006 | MJ Reiss COX-2 Inhibits MMP-9 Induction by TNF-Alpha in Skin |
2006 | A. Bizet CD109 Is a Novel TGF-Beta Accessory Receptor that Inhibits TGF-Beta Signaling in Keratinocytes |
2006 | B. Naik-Mathuria Negative Pressure Wound Therapy is Safe and Effective in Children of All Ages |
2005 | Hakim K. Said HRE-Luciferase Transfection Quantifies Tissue level ISCHEMIA in a Reabbit Ear Wound Model |
2005 | Corrie L. Gallant Behm The Role of Genetics on Wound Contraction in a Porcine Model |
2005 | Jennifer Yeh Altered Skin Wound Healing in Homeobox Gene MSX-2 Knockout Mice |
2005 | Ashley E. Ducale Inihibition of Mitogen Activated Kinase-Mediated Hyaluronan Expression by Glucocorticoids |
2004 | Karen Cross Determination of Burn Depth Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy |
2004 | Mimi Leong Light-Emitting Diode Therapy Increases VEGF and No Production in Raw 264.7 Cells |
2004 | David Rosenberg Aged Rats Display Increased Ischemia-Reperfusion Skin Injury in the In Vivo Magnet Model |
2004 | Esther Wassermann A Chronic Pressure Sore Nude Mouse Model |
2003 | Sundeep Keswani Adenoviral Mediated Gene Transfer of PDGF-B Enhances Wound Healing in Type I and Type II Diabetic Wounds |
2003 | Kurtis Moyer Inhibition of GAP Junction Intercellular Communication Alters Mast Cell-Fibroblast Collagen Lattice Contraction |
2003 | Wendy Parker TGF-BETA1 Binding by Endoglin Requires Betaglycan but no the Type II Signaling Receptor |
2003 | Jian Fei Wang Connective Tissue Growth Factor RNAI Suppresses Porcine Skin Fibroblast Cell Gene Expression |
2002 | Howard Levinson Blockade of Actin-Myosin Filament Sliding Inhibits Wound Contraction |
2002 | Rainer Mittermayr The protective effect of a novel No-Donor on Ischemia/Reperfusion injury in a rat epigastric flap model |
2002 | Yubin Shi Carp, A Cardiac Ankyrin Repeat Protein, Is Upregulated During Wound Healing And Induces Angiogenesis In Experimental Granulation Tissue |
2002 | Neil Bhowmick The conditional knock-out of the transforming growth factor type II receptor in fibroblasts results in impaired wound healing |
2001 | Colman Byrnes, MD DNA-Growth Factor Transfection to Enhance Cutaneous Wound Healing |
2001 | Jagajan Karmacharyna, MD Adenoviral Mediated Overexpression of Soluble Growth Factors and Their Effects in Impaired Wound Healing |
2001 | Susan Opalenik, PhD The Kinetic Contribution of Bone Marrow-Derived Cells to Healing Cutaneous Wounds |
2001 | Colin Riodan, MD Analysis of the Matrix Metalloproteinase Profile in Different Chronic Wounds After Surgical Debridement |