Michael J. Morykwas, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgical Sciences - Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

SHORT BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH: Dr. Michael Morykwas was born and raised in Michigan. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Detroit. He then received his Master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Bioengineering, with a focus on Biomaterials. He then completed a short Post-Doctoral stint investigating electro-rheologic fluids with Dr. Frank Filisko at the University of Michigan. Following this, he accepted a research position in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1988. He is currently an Associate Professor. He has cross appointments with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Department of Biomedical Engineering at WFUSM, and also through the Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University School for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, mainly in the field of wound healing. He and Louis Argenta, M.D., are the co-inventors of the V.A.C. wound healing device.

SYNOPSIS OF AREA OF INTEREST: Dr. Morykwas is interested in the normal and abnormal processes of wound healing. He is also interested in the effects of applied sub-atmospheric pressure, and the related tissue and cellular deformation, on wound healing.

DETAILED AREA OF INTEREST: Wound healing is a process fundamental to continued life. Delayed or interrupted wound healing can be devastating to quality of life and can potentially result in death. In order to understand abnormal processes of wound healing the normal process of wound healing must also be understood. Dr. Morykwas and his team has discovered that application of a controlled sub-atmospheric pressure to wounds in a controlled environment results in an increased rate of formation of granulation tissue. This has been patented as the commercially available V.A.C. device. The group is examining the effects of the applied sub-atmospheric pressure, and subsequent deformation, at the tissue, cell, and molecular level in order to help understand the mechanisms of accelerated wound healing.

PUBLICATIONS:
Morykwas, M.J., David, L.R., Schneider, A.M, Whang, C., Jennings, D.A., Canty, C., Parker, D., White, W.L., and Argenta, L.C.: Use of the V.A.C. to prevent progression of partial thickness burns in a swine model. J Burn Care Rehab, 20:15-21, 1999.

Banwell P.E., Morykwas M.J., Milligan C., Argenta L.C.: Demarcation of cellular injury in partial thickness burns: improved accuracy using immunohistochemistry and apoptotic cell death. J Burn Care Rehab, 21: S199, 2000.

Morykwas M.J., Faler B.J., Pearce D.J., Argenta LC: The effects of varying levels of sub-atmospheric pressure on the rate of granulation tissue formation in experimental wounds in swine. Annals Plastic Surg, 47:547-551, 2001.

Morykwas M.J., Howell H., Bleyer A.J., Molnar J.A., Argenta L.C.: The effect of externally applied sub-atmospheric pressure on serum myoglobin levels following a prolonged crush/ischemia injury. J Trauma, 53:537-540, 2002.

Molnar J.A., DeFranzo A.J., Hadaegh A., Morykwas M.J., Shen P., Argenta L.C.: Acceleration of integra incorporation in complex tissue defects with subatmospheric pressure. Plastic Reconstruc Surg, 113:1339-1346, 2004.

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