Research
Director of Plastic Surgery Research
Dr. James Chang
VA Palo Alto Health Care System
3801 Miranda Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94
Phone: (650) 496-2519
Fax: (650) 849-0237
Children's Surgical Research Program
Dr. Michael T. Longaker (Director) and Dr. Peter Lorenz
257 Campus Drive
Stanford, CA, 94305-5148
Phone: (650) 726-1707
http://psrl.stanford.edu/
The Children's Program at Stanford Universityis at the cutting edge of plastic surgery research and boasts one of the most well-funded and productive research programs in the nation. Our faculty represents some of the current and future leaders in their respective fields. Our work has appeared in prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Bone, Journal of Hand Surgery, Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Located in a new research building on the Stanford University campus, the 14,000 sq. ft. Children's Surgical Research laboratory is fully equipped for cellular, molecular, and animal research. Under the direction of Dr. Michael T. Longaker, the expanding team of principal investigators, senior scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students investigate the fundamentals of bone and soft-tissue biology with application towards tissue engineering and regeneration.
Dr. Longaker’s laboratory studies models of endogenous bone tissue engineering in order to develop a molecular and cellular "blueprint" of successful osteogenesis. These models include cranial suture fusion, mandibular distraction osteogenesis, and immature calvarial re-ossification. Using such models, we are trying to understand how the body builds bone naturally, so that we can manipulate this complex system to precisely regulate bone formation in a variety of clinical situations.
Dr. Longaker’s laboratory also investigates soft-tissue wound healing. Of particular interest are the molecular mechanisms mediating pathologic scar formation. More than 2 billion people worldwide are at risk for keloid formation (pathologic scar) following any surgical procedures or even something as simple as ear piercing. Since present treatments do little to alleviate these large, thick, disfiguring scars, we are trying to develop biologically-based therapies to prevent keloids from forming.
Dr. H. Peter Lorenz directs the Scarless Skin Repair laboratory within the Children's Surgical Research Program. His group studies the differences between scarless and scarring wounds. The fetus, or unborn child, has an amazing capacity to heal wounds without the formation of scar. A cut on the hand of a fetus that would form a scar on an adult hand heals as if there had never been a cut. As one of the leading authorities in scarring research, By understanding these differences, his group is developing new clinical treatments aimed at ameliorating scarring. This work not only has implications for cosmetic plastic surgery, but also many other fields of medicine in which scar-formation can be problematic (e.g. facial scars due to congenital clefts, laceration injuries, and burns, pulmonary fibrosis, cardiac fibrosis after a heart attack, strictures in arteries and veins after surgery, and post-operative peritoneal adhesions after bowel surgery).
Both the Longaker and Lorenz laboratories are also investigating in the biology of adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and their possible applications in tissue engineering. Liposuction yields large quantities of these adult MSCs making their potential use practical for future clinical applications. We are beginning to explore the biology of these adult-derived stem cells and their possible application to organogenesis, osteogenesis, and scarless wound healing, treating impaired healing, and improving bone fracture healing.
