About the Lab
Our lab focuses on understanding the regenerative capacity of the vagina after injury toward developing novel therapies for scarless wound healing. Our group operates under the interdisciplinary team of physicians, scientists, and engineers in the Laboratory for Regenerative Tissue Repair at Texas Children’s Hospital. We are particularly interested in defining the roles of mechanical forces, extracellular matrix, and inflammation in the wound healing process using the vagina as an archetype model of regenerative responses to injury. We use our studies to translate bench discoveries into bedside applications in achieving anti-fibrotic therapies to improve outcomes for patients.
Pediatric gynecologist clinician-scientist, Dr. Julie Hakim, leads our group in exploring gynecologic innovation and device design. We are passionate about improving women and girls’ health via the study and evaluation of novel GYN related medical device designs. Among our pursuits of device design and innovation, we are pioneering vaginal stents specifically for adolescents to prevent complications from vaginal fibrosis after surgeries addressing reproductive anomalies. Our mission is to translate our research discoveries into clinical applications for developing vaginal anti-fibrotic therapies and ultimately improving outcomes for patients.
