Center for Wound Healing

The Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration (CWHTR) is a unique community of scientists and clinicians devoted to the study of injury, wound healing, and regeneration. The members of this multidisciplinary research center investigate the body's reaction to injury, as well as mechanisms of repair and regeneration of tissues.

Dr. Luisa DiPietro, Director of the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration and Professor in the Department of Periodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, was selected to chair a recent 2009 Gordon Research Conference, entitled “Tissue Regeneration and Repair” and held June 14 through 19 at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire.

The conference was attended by more than 100 scientists, clinicians, and students from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. It was the ninth Gordon Research Conference on that topic; the conference is held every two years. “Many scientists in the field consider it to be the preeminent conference on this topic,” Dr. DiPietro said.

The Gordon Conferences are distinguished by their commitment to the presentation of recent unpublished findings at the forefront of a particular field. Dr. DiPietro was responsible for organizing the program and identifying and inviting both distinguished speakers and young investigators to present talks. The week-long program featured sessions on proliferation, inflammation, regeneration, bioengineering, genetics, fibrosis, stressors of healing, and stem cells.

“Due to the large number of UIC attendees, the conference allowed us to get outstanding feedback on our research programs in the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration,” Dr. DiPietro said. “We were also able to make some key contacts with leaders in the fields of repair and regeneration.”

The UIC College of Dentistry and the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration were well represented at the conference by eight members of the College community including faculty, staff, and students: Phillip Marucha, Christopher Engeland, Shujuan Guo, Wendy Cerny, Anna Turabelidze, Stephanie Tymen, and Mat Wietecha. Engeland, Guo, Turabelidze, Tymen, and Wietecha all presented posters highlighting their current research projects in the area of wound healing and repair, and Dr. Marucha chaired a session on “Stressors of Wound Healing.”

For more information, call (312) 355-2662 or e-mail cernyw@uic.edu.

The Wound Healing Seminar Series will resume in October, 2009. The 2009-2010 seminars will be held on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 12:30 – 1:30 in Room 501 of the College of Dentistry (801 S. Paulina). A light lunch will be served. The series will feature presentations related to the basic science and clinical aspects of wound repair and tissue regeneration.

The first seminar in the current series (Oct. 15) will feature Dr. Shane A. Phillips, Asst. Prof. of Physical Therapy at UIC, who will speak on the topic "Exercise and Vascular Endothelium: Role of Reactive Oxygen Species".

Dates for the 2009 - 2010 Wound Healing Series: Oct. 15, Nov. 19, Dec. 17, Jan. 21, Feb. 18, Mar. 18, Apr. 15, May 20.