Our Research

One of the biggest challenges to doctors worldwide is the speeding up of the wound healing process, whether the wound has been caused by surgery, disease or burns.

The normal function of skin is to provide a barrier against fluid loss and stop infection. When the skin is damaged, this barrier is compromised. It may be possible to graft skin from elsewhere but this process comes with its own risks and problems.

The Institute has made excellent progress in creating artificial skin materials which can be mixed with a patient's own cells.  Synthetic materials combined with patient cells have now been shown to survive without rejection on chronic wounds and burns and thus we hope provide a permanent skin cover without scarring in our patients.

Apart from children’s burns, NPIMR expects these skin constructs to be valuable in accelerating healing in chronic non-healing wounds such as leg ulcers and pressure sores in the elderly and in diabetics.