# Extended Release of Bioactive Factors to Treat Refractory Wounds

> **NIH NIH R01** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $377,703

## Abstract

Extended release of bioactive factors to treat refractory wounds
 Chronic wounds significantly decrease quality of life, lead to severe disability, and are
huge burdens on healthcare and caregivers. Diabetes mellitus is expected to afflict 366 million
people worldwide by 2030. Among these patients, approximately 15% will develop diabetic foot
ulcers. Underlying chronic wounds, abnormal cell phenotypes and chronic inflammation inhibit
normal healing processes and elevate the risk of infection. Current clinical solutions are
expensive, time-consuming, largely unsuccessful, and lack patient self-management. The
overarching goal of this translational study is to advance nursing science and the wound care
field, by healing chronic wounds with one-time administration of sustained, local release of growth
factors. This effective and economical treatment will be achieved using a new vehicle that protects
the bioactivity of the protein cargo.
 Growth factor signaling plays a pivotal role in the natural wound healing process. The
major limitation in growth factor therapies has been the lack of an appropriate delivery system to
provide for prolonged signaling. Controlled delivery of growth factor will reduce patient morbidity
and risk of infection in chronic wounds while helping patients to manage their care more
autonomously. This research focuses on testing the efficacy of a delivery system we recently
designed for wound-implicated growth factors and has three specific aims:
Aim 1. Investigate the effects of HB-EGF coacervate on wound healing in vitro using normal and
diabetic primary human dermal cells and evaluate the safety of the coacervate treatment.
Aim 2. Evaluate the efficacy of controlled delivery of HB-EGF to improve diabetic wound healing
in a polygenic type 2 diabetic mouse model.
Aim 3. Investigate the controlled delivery of HB-EGF to accelerate diabetic wound healing in a
porcine model.
 This proposal will provide the foundation for an easy-to-use product that significantly
improve healing of wounds, increase patient self-reliance and quality of life, and reduce the
interruption and loss of productivity patients currently must accept. Therefore, this new technology
would enable not only improved health outcomes, but also more self-management for individuals
with chronic wounds.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9924291
- **Project number:** 5R01NR016436-05
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Yadong Wang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $377,703
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-22 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9924291

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9924291, Extended Release of Bioactive Factors to Treat Refractory Wounds (5R01NR016436-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9924291. Licensed CC0.

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