Anne Hocking , PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent emerging cell based-therapies to ameliorate tissue damage due to injury and disease. Clinical trials in progress are using exogenous MSCs to treat diabetes, cardiovascular disease and non-healing wounds due to diabetes. The majority of these trials are aimed at exploiting the ability of these adult stem cells to release trophic mediators that enhance angiogenesis and cell survival while reducing both inflammation and fibrosis. The two objectives of our laboratory are: 1) to determine the impact of the diabetic metabolic environment of high glucose and fatty acids on MSC regulation of the local cellular responses to injury; and 2) to determining whether therapeutically administered MSCs reduce hypertrophic scarring by releasing soluble factors that regulate fibroproliferative responses to cutaneous injury.