Matthew D. Wood, PhD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Overview
Specialties
- Peripheral nerve
- Cell biology
- Biomedical engineering
- Tissue engineering
Education
Medical School
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo., 2009
Post Doctoral Education
2012 Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Memberships
- American Society for Peripheral Nerve
- Plastic Surgery Research Council
- Associate Member Biomedical Engineering Society
- Society for Engineering Science
Research
Improving the surgeon’s capabilities to manage injuries and reconstruct tissue through basic studies and bioengineering approaches, focusing on two major aspects:
- Understanding the cells and signaling that limit tissue regeneration
- Applying bioengineering approaches to overcome these limits
Also serves as Scientific Director of the Plastic Surgery Research Laboratories, a multi-investigator laboratory interested in basic science and translational advances in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery and tissue engineering. Research involves:
- Understanding and improving nerve regeneration across biomaterials and scaffolds; involves looking at the role of T cells in aiding regeneration across biomaterials, as well as how to modulate T cell-regulated responses to improve regeneration
- Collaborative studies with Susan Mackinnon, MD, to consider how to recruit and enable macrophages to promote angiogenesis and subsequent regeneration across critical-sized nerve defects.
- Working with electrical stimulation to augment tissue regeneration, involving the ways electrical stimulation can be used to improve tissue regeneration
Innovations
Establishing the impact of an “off the shelf” electrical stimulation device for clinical use to improve peripheral nerve regeneration
Financial Disclosures
2019 – Present Recipient of Research Funding from Checkpoint Surgical, Inc.
2019 – Present Consultant. Foundry Therapeutics, LLC
2019 – Present Consultant, The Foundry, LLC