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June 29, 2005
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Media Contact: |
Mike Andrei
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Daemen College Awarded $925,000 for Center for Wound Healing Research
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Daemen College has been awarded $925,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense for The Center for Wound Healing Research. The funding was requested by Representative Thomas M. Reynolds, R- Clarence as part of the 2005 Defense spending Bill; it is being administered through the United States Department of Defense, Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC).
Chronic wounds are wounds that do not heal, as compared to acute wounds. These wounds include infections, pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, burns, radiation, frostbite, venous ulcers and arterial ulcers. The wounds are painful and may lead to a number of complications including loss of limb or death. In addition, care for these wounds is very expensive - estimates for each wound's treatment range from $40-70 thousand. In the United States, over $1 billion is spent annually treating chronic wounds. The treatment of chronic wounds is unlike most of modern medicine or current disease treatment, in that there is no scientific test or method to determine which treatments will best lead to wound healing for a specific patient. Unlike a throat culture or diagnostic blood test, there is no tool available to evaluate individual wounds and allow the clinician to select the most efficacious treatment for that individual's wound. Significant differences exist in the microenvironment of acute and chronic wounds. Although the process of wound healing is well-documented, the specific biomarkers associated with healing of chronic wounds are currently unknown. The lack of a test or assay to help guide the clinical treatment of wounds presents a significant gap in our health care system. With this funding, the team at Daemen will conduct research to assess the protein changes which occur as wounds transition from chronic to healing, thereby testing the hypothesis that specific biomarkers are associated with the earliest stages of healing in chronic wounds. The identification of biomarkers, which indicate initial stages of healing, is the first step in developing a standard evaluation of wounds to determine if the treatment is successful at the earliest time possible. The results from this study will be important in the development of new wound treatments for chronic and immediate post injury wounds and in the determination of the most efficacious use of health treatment dollars. Dr. Laura Edsberg, the Director of The Natural & Health Sciences Research Center and The Center for Wound Healing Research at Daemen College, is Principal Investigator of the grant. "This research is an important step toward developing a diagnostic tool, which evaluates the healing process in chronic wounds," notes Dr. Edsberg. "A standard tool for evaluation of wounds to determine if the treatment is successful at the earliest time possible is necessary and long overdue. This project is the first step leading to the formation of a standard for wound treatment evaluation and a better understanding of the healing of chronic wounds and ultimately fewer chronic wounds." Healthy People 2010 is a set of health objectives set forth by the federal government for the nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. A major objective of this agenda is to reduce the proportion of long-term care patients with a current diagnosis of pressure ulcers. The incidence of chronic wounds is increasing as our population ages. 10-15 % of hospitalized individuals, 15-20 % of nursing home residents, and 25-35 % of home care populations have chronic wounds. Chronic wounds also impact individuals with spinal cord injuries. There are nearly 300,000 Americans with spinal cord injuries (SCI), and in 2003 approximately one-third of the people with SCI developed pressure ulcers. The Natural and Health Sciences Research Laboratory at Daemen College has been made possible in part through support from The George I. Alden Trust and The Edward J. Kavanaugh Foundation, and The James H. Cummings Foundation. The Center's research projects have been awarded funding from Advanced Hyperbaric Technologies, Gaymar Industries, The James R. Hayward Research Fund, The National Science Foundation, and The New York Physical Therapy Association Research Designated Fund. In 2002, Dr. Edsberg received the New York Physical Therapy Robert Salant Award for outstanding clinical research. In April of 2004, Dr. Edsberg was honored by Business First of Buffalo as a "Health Care Hero" in the category of Academic Excellence for her achievement in health care education. She has recently been elected to the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel Board of Directors. |