# Mutlifunctional Nanocomposite Bioadhesive for Diabetic Wound Repair

> **NIH NIH R15** · MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $448,936

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Over 6 million people in the United States are afflicted by chronic ulcers and this number is expected to
grow. Wound healing is impaired in these patients, who are often inflicted with other diseases (i.e., diabetes,
venous disease, or arterial disease), receiving anti-inflammatory steroid treatment, or receiving chemo- or
radiotherapy for cancer. Chronic ulcers can negatively affect patient quality of life and productivity and are a
substantial financial burden to the health care system. Patients typically require extended periods of
hospitalization and may require over 26 weeks for full recovery. Treatment of diabetic ulcers and related
amputations in the U.S. totaled over $10 billion in 2011. Current treatments of non-infected ulcers are costly
and have demonstrated mixed results. Most importantly, these treatments do not actively prevent infection,
which can often complicate healing and affect long-term stable wound resolution.
 In the current proposal, we seek to manipulate a unique bioinspired redox chemistry found in mussel
adhesive proteins to create a novel, multifunctional nanocomposite adhesive that can potentially promote
wound healing while minimizing infection. There are three main objectives to this proposal. Objective 1:
Prepare novel antimicrobial adhesive and evaluate its performance. Objective 2: Evaluate the adhesive’s
cytocombatibility and its ability to promote healing and prevent infection in culture. Objective 3: Verify
candidate adhesives’ ability to promote healing in an infected wound model in diabetic mice. Future work will
evaluate adhesive’s ability to promote healing in a larger animal model.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10974644
- **Project number:** 2R15GM135875-02
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Bruce P Lee
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $448,936
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10974644

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10974644, Mutlifunctional Nanocomposite Bioadhesive for Diabetic Wound Repair (2R15GM135875-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10974644. Licensed CC0.

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