# Characterization and treatment of the scarred vocal fold

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2024 · $515,956

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Vocal fold (VF) mucosal injury resulting in scar formation is a debilitating and challenging clinical problem
for which there is no uniformly effective treatment. Emerging research, including work completed during our
most recent funding cycle, suggests that non-resident, migratory cells may play an important and previously
underappreciated role in VF wound healing and tissue remodeling. The migratory cells of particular importance
to VF mucosal maintenance and repair are those within the monocyte lineage, a diverse population that arises
from myeloid progenitor cells within bone marrow. Based on the scientific premise that bone marrow-derived,
monocyte-lineage cells are key effectors of wound healing outcome, we propose a definitive set of experiments
that will quantify bone marrow-derived cell migration to normal and injured VF mucosa (Aim 1), identify the
functional contribution of monocyte-lineage cells to inflammatory signaling and fibrosis outcome following VF
mucosal injury (Aim 2), and determine phonatory outcomes following monocyte-lineage cell neutralization in a
humanized rat model of VF mucosal injury (Aim 3). The proposed research will define the relationship between
monocyte-lineage cell availability and VF wound healing outcome and, further, provide a foundation for future
work in the area of VF scar prophylaxis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10809667
- **Project number:** 5R01DC004428-17
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Nathan Welham
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $515,956
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2000-05-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10809667

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10809667, Characterization and treatment of the scarred vocal fold (5R01DC004428-17). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-15 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10809667. Licensed CC0.

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