DANA POINT, CALIF. – It’s possible that burn victims and others with traumatic scarring will no longer need to have skin grafted from one part of their body, thus adding new scars, to mend the deeper scars, according to Dr. Jill Waibel, a speaker at Summit in Aesthetic Medicine 2014.
"As surgeons, we don’t have the right to take healthy tissue and create more scars," said Dr. Waibel, director of the Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute and a voluntary clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Miami.
Dr. Waibel and her colleagues are working with the Department of Defense to study whether stem cells can be applied directly to wounds to facilitate new skin tissue growth in service personnel with traumatic injuries from bomb blasts they suffered while fighting in Afghanistan.
She and her team also have been working with the DOD to refine the delivery system for these stem cells, using lasers and a hydrogel developed by the military that can used safely in vivo. Dr. Waibel discusses her hopes and concerns for stem cell use in traumatic scar treatment in this video from the meeting, which was held by Global Academy for Medical Education. GAME and this news organization are owned by Frontline Medical Communications.
Dr. Waibel disclosed she has financial relationships with Alma, Syneron/Candela, Sciton, Lutronics, and Lumenis.
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