Francois Berthiaume

Dr. Francois Berthiaume obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University, after which he had a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School before becoming an instructor and then assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. In 2009, he moved to the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers as an Associate Professor. Here at Rutgers, his research in Tissue Engineering focuses on developing methods that attract stem cells to a site of injury in order to promote faster wound healing and reduced scarring. It is known that adult stem cells, some of which coming from the bone marrow, naturally have the capacity to home into injured areas of the body where they grow and differentiate to form new tissue. Our goal is to elucidate this mechanism and to develop methods that enhance it using a combination of implantable polymeric scaffolds and stem cell attracting agents. We are specifically interested to use this strategy for improving the healing of skin wounds, in particular deep skin wounds that are susceptible to infection and scarring, as well as non-healing and chronic wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, and bed sores.

November 2013