COLUMBUS,
Ohio – Researchers from The Ohio State University
College of Medicine have received a five-year, $2.1 million award from the
National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health to
study resistant wound infections, which affect 17 million people annually and
are responsible for claiming the lives of 550,000 people per year due to
complications from the devastating disease.
After skin
tissue is burned, antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause biofilms to form over the
wound. Utilizing the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team, including faculty
from Ohio State College of Medicine’s Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity
and The Ohio State University
Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Surgery, Comprehensive
Wound Center and Comprehensive
Burn Center, scientists will use molecular and genomic approaches to define
how biofilm-growing bacteria resist treatment and host immune
cells.
“This
research endeavor helps us assemble the right team to tackle a substantial
health problem. Infection is a significant challenge in wound care, particularly
for those patients with major burn injuries. Biofilms, which are dense
communities of bacteria commonly adherent to a surface or each other, are now
recognized as a significant contributor to these infections,” says Dr. Chandan
Sen, professor and vice chair for research in Ohio State's Department of
Surgery.
According to
Sen, also co-principal investigator of the study along with Daniel Wozniak, two
of the most commonly identified biofilm pathogens isolated from chronic wounds –
P. aeruginosa
and S. aureus
– predominate and researching their pathogenesis, resistance
properties and immune interactions will provide valuable knowledge for the
eventual treatment of chronic wounds.
The focus of
the study will be the interaction of the immune system and biofilms, from which
a chronic wound model of infection that mimics human disease will be developed.
Researchers will test their hypothesis that biofilm-related infections delay
healing in human wound infections. The findings will be integral to the
development of novel therapeutics to combat biofilm
infections.
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Click here for a
high-resolution JPEG of Dr. Chandan Sen, or go to: http://go.osu.edu/D9k
Contact:
Sherri Kirk, College of Medicine Public Relations, 614.366.3277, or Sherri.Kirk@osumc.edu
