Postdoctoral Fellowship in Combat Casulaty Care and
Wound Healing at the US Army Institute for Surgical Research
2006 Call for Applications

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Supported by Department of Defense Grant #DAMD 17-02-1-0717

PTEI began in January 1994 as a novel initiative designed to encourage the development of tissue engineering (TE) by uniting the scientific and commercial talent of the Pittsburgh region. Initially, it was an informal network of scientists, engineers, community leaders, businesspersons, and others interested in fostering commercially applicable TE research within local universities. PTEI rapidly grew, consolidated as a free-standing enterprise and was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 1996. In recognition of the strength of this structure, PTEI received an award from the US Department of Defense (DOD) for establishment of the first National Tissue Engineering Center (NTEC), which services the DOD as a venue for leading civilian and military scientists, clinicians, and engineers. The postdoctoral fellow will be placed with US Army ISR researchers and will engage in TE research, which addresses the preservation, health, and safety of soldiers. Participating postdoctoral fellows will further benefit from the PTEI collaborative by being invited to interface with PTEI and NTEC researchers, as well as other postdoctoral fellows across the PTEI network.  

TE is by its nature highly interdisciplinary — almost all science and engineering disciplines are required participants in any given project. A critical part of the NTEC mission is training of scientists in the field of TE as well as fostering the development of civilian and military interdisciplinary research teams. The successful postdoctoral fellow candidate will pursue TE research training at the ISR, which is the US Army research and development laboratory dedicated to improving the care given to military personnel who suffer traumatic injury. As part of this effort, the ISR develops, characterizes and uses animal models of traumatic injures to investigate the pathophysiology of traumatic injury, as well as to develop and test novel therapeutics for the treatment of such injures in order to sustain life and optimize functional recovery. Of those injured on the battlefield, over 70% have extremity injuries involving soft and hard tissues. In order to develop technologies to restore damaged or missing tissues, the ISR Tissue Trauma Group focuses on using animal models to develop therapeutics aimed at regeneration of function muscle and bone. The group’s research efforts are currently focused on the use of extracellular matrix materials to improve function of injured tissues.

The postdoc candidate is expected to have experience and expertise in either bench-top or pre-clinical development of such materials. To be successful, the candidate will currently have or need to develop expertise in immunohistochemistry and standard molecular biological methods in order to characterize the regenerative response of tissues treated with novel therapeutics. In addition, the candidate will be expected to work as a team member and develop an understanding of physiology and the ability to use standard mechanical testing techniques to assess tissue function in animal models. Emphasis is also placed on transitioning products from pre-clinical to clinical testing in a collaborative environment involving researchers and clinicians. Additional opportunities exist to collaborate with industry and academia to incorporate technologies, such as manipulation of growth factors and the use of mesenchymal or amniotic stem cells. The ISR is a translational research organization. As such, the successful applicant is expected to collaborate with healthcare providers in the ISR Burn and Trauma Center to advance successful pre-clinical research to clinical trials.

According to DOD eligibility criteria, a trainee must be a citizen or non-citizen national of the U.S. or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Applicants with a PhD, MD, and related advanced degrees are eligible. A record of scientific achievement is highly desirable, and excellent written and oral English communication skills are mandatory.