Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM: Campus Center Auditorium [A35]

Presenter: Diana S. Panasyuk

Faculty Sponsor: Reena Randhir

School: Springfield Technical Community College

Research Area: Biology

ABSTRACT

The frequency and severity of burn injuries due to wildfires, including deep, partial, or full thickness burns that require skin grafts, have increased in recent years. Traditional therapies have limitations including the availability of donor skin, the risk of infection, delayed healing, and long-term scarring. This  presents a primary area for potential use of tissue engineering with the goal of improved healing, restoration of normal skin function, and reduction of long-term morbidity. A systematic literature review was conducted in Google Scholar to explore bioengineered skin substitutes, biomaterial scaffolds, and stem cell therapy as emerging regenerative strategies to improve healing after wildfire-related burns. Studies suggest that bioengineered skin constructs could considerably improve re-epithelialization by 30–50% when compared to standard wound treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells may promote angiogenesis, control inflammation, and support tissue remodeling, while collagen and fibrin-based biomaterial scaffolds provide structure for cell growth and may accelerate wound healing by improving vascularization and wound closure. Some approaches add antimicrobial agents to the material to reduce the incidence of infection and improve healing. Overall, tissue-engineered therapies may reduce mortality, promote healing, and improve the functional and cosmetic outcomes of burn injuries. Future work should focus on large-scale clinical trials, portable and rapid-deployment of treatment systems for potential use in wildfire disasters, and the development of regenerative medicine to improve long term outcomes and survivability in patients with severe burn injuries, supporting scalable implementation in disaster-response settings.