Description: The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command has announced the grants awarded under the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine: Warrior Restoration Consortium, known as AFIRM-II.

The AFIRM II program is intended to continue the success of the original AFIRM program, which was first funded in 2008. AFIRM-I focused on limb repair, craniofacial repair, burn repair, scarless wound repair, and compartment syndrome. The AFIRM program emphasized getting projects through advanced development, so that the innovations could be used for patients who need them. During the first program, more than 180 patients received treatment with AFIRM-funded technologies.

AFIRM II is a multi-institution endeavor and will focus on five key areas, including extremity regeneration; craniomaxillofacial regeneration; skin regeneration; composite tissue allotransplantation and immunomodulation; and genitourinary/lower abdomen reconstruction. The goals of the program are to fund basic through translational regenerative medicine research, and to bring promising technologies and restorative practices into human clinical trials.

The leader of the Pittsburgh-based program is Rocky Tuan, PhD and the specific Pittsburgh-based projects are listed below:

  • In Situ Influence of Cell Fate for Functional Soft Tissue Reconstruction; PI: Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD
  • Novel Strategies for Repair and Restoration of Calvarial Bone Defects in Wounds Compromised by Infection and Scarring; PI: Joseph Losee, MD ; Co-PI: Phil Campbell, PhD (Carnegie Mellon)
  • Biodegradable Conduits for Large Extremity Nerve Injuries; PI: Kacey Marra, PhD