The UAB Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery is committed to improving the fields of trauma, burn care and surgical critical care. Our faculty are actively involved in a number of research areas, such as those listed below, as well as the Crash Injury Research Engineering Network (CIREN) Program funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Center for Injury Science.
- Acute Care Surgery
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Hemorrhage
This program fosters research and instruction in the areas of trauma and hemorrhage to translate the experimental studies to the bedside using novel treatment modalities so that complications and mortality rates in such trauma patients can be decreased.
Along with the Center for Phase I Studies, the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies have been contracted to a GLP facility to obtain safety and toxicity information for filing an IND application and obtaining approval from the FDA for conducting the Phase I studies of EE-3-SO4. More specifically, the contract titled “Surviving Blood Loss: First In Human Studies To Assess Safety And Physiological Effects Of Synthetic Ethinyl Estradiol-3-Sulfate (EE-3-SO4) In Healthy Subjects Both Euvolemic And Following 10-20% Inatrogenic Blood Loss” has been awarded since September 2015 to the tune of $10 million to complete the preclinical studies so that Phase I studies of EE-3-SO4 can then be performed.
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Surgical Education Research Program
The Surgical Education Research Program studies the process by which we train future surgeons and surgical leaders. Our focus areas include surgical simulation, conflict management, robotic surgical curriculum, and surgery work hours as well as other educational interests.
Faculty
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Traumatic Hemorrhage and Fluid Resuscitation
This basic science and translational research program is focused on elucidating the cause-and-effect mechanisms of endotheliopathy that drive organ dysfunction and coagulation abnormalities in the setting of traumatic injury and hemorrhagic shock. In combination with clinical studies and animal models of injury and inflammation, we utilize custom-designed bioengineered cell culture systems to study the impact of resuscitation strategies on glycocalyx degradation and glycocalyx structural modifications that dictate mechanisms of vascular inflammation, endothelial hyperpermeability, aberrant coagulation and impaired vasoreactivity. Our research efforts are aimed at the identification of therapeutic strategies to protect, restore or modify the endothelial glycocalyx to mitigate endotheliopathy and improve clinical outcomes for trauma patients.