Simon W. Young, DDS, MD, PhD

Despite our understanding of bone regeneration in sites with an optimized underlying physiological environment, it is still poorly understood why bone grafting fails in the setting of the compromised wound (i.e. osteoradionecrosis, multiply-operated sites, etc.). Whether the defect lies in an inadequately vascularized environment, an adversely affected (or missing) progenitor cell population, the complicating presence of bacterial contamination, or a sub-optimal cytokine milieu, the relative contributions of these factors remains to be clearly elucidated. A clinically relevant, reproducible model of compromised wound healing would be an invaluable tool to study these potential mechanisms of bone graft failure, and inform future strategies to improve bone grafting in these situations.

 

The studies outlined in this proposal will utilize a recently developed pre-clinical model of compromised maxillofacial wound healing in the following specific aims:

 

In Specific Aim 1, this model will serve as a clinically-relevant platform for the elucidation of key differences between compromised and non-compromised maxillofacial wound environments in the context of standard bone grafting techniques.

 

In Specific Aim 2, the compromised wound healing model will be used to evaluate the performance of patient-specific 3D-printed bioceramic scaffolds with osteogenic coatings.

 

The data anticipated from this work will enhance our understanding of conventional bone graft material performance in compromised maxillofacial wound beds and drive the rational-design of novel customized bioactive scaffolds for maxillofacial tissue regeneration.