Burns Research > About The Laboratory

The group researches all aspects of Burn Care and specialises in tissue engineering of 3 dimensional skin substitutes for sever burns patients. Cultured Epithelium Autografts (CEA) is a well established technique to create large numbers of skin cell for resurfacing of wounds. Unfortunately these cultured cells do not have the same physical properties as normal human skin cells as they are missing the interaction with deeper tissue layers.

Our laboratory is committed to improve the cultured skin autograft technology by developing three-dimensional dermal substitutes and skin equivalents for treating deep burn wounds. Using technologies including tissue culture, cell biology, molecular biology and, cellular and tissue engineering, we have been trying to produce different biological scaffolds that are biologically compatible, safe and suitable for skin cells to attach and grow. The scaffold could be used for repairing the damaged dermal bed or for engineering autologous skin substitute with skin structures comparable to normal human skin, which includes epidermis, dermal components, pigment cells and microvascular vessels under laboratory conditions. The research and development of tissue-engineered scaffold, dermal and skin equivalents will benefit not only the burns patients but also the patients with other skin defects such as chronic, diabetic and pressure skin ulcers.