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idw - Informationsdienst
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At Hannover Medical School (MHH), a Fulbright scholar is combining engineering and immunology to improve wound treatment.
Chronic wounds often place a heavy burden on those affected, as they heal very poorly, cause pain and restrict movement. At Hannover Medical School (MHH), Fulbright scholar Samuel Sung from the USA is now spending a year researching new therapeutic approaches to improve the healing of chronic wounds in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann's team. To this end, he is combining engineering with immunology and focusing on the use of specialised immune cells.
Macrophages (scavenger cells) play a central role in wound healing. These immune cells coordinate inflammation, remove deposits and provide new tissue. If these processes do not function properly, wound healing can no longer take place correctly, promoting chronic wounds. Professor Lachmann's team at the Clinic for Paediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology at the MHH can specialise macrophages and produce them from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which could serve as replacements in the future.
The goal is the next generation of wound healing therapies.
However, it remains unclear how these cells can be specifically introduced into the wound. Which compresses and gels are suitable for this purpose? To answer these questions, Samuel Sung uses artificially produced hydrogels that serve as carrier material and have been loaded with specialised macrophages. He is investigating how the gels influence the behaviour of the phagocytes and thus the immune response, and whether they can promote skin regeneration in an efficient and controlled manner. ‘We want to work together to develop the next generation of wound healing therapies,’ says Professor Lachmann.
Samuel Sung has also worked with macrophages in his previous work in Professor Kara Spiller's laboratory at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and he can now link his studies with human immune cells. ‘His arrival strengthens our growing partnership with Professor Spiller's laboratory, which is internationally recognised for its expertise in biomaterials and immune engineering,’ emphasises Professor Lachmann. Immune engineering combines engineering techniques with immunological research to develop innovative therapeutic approaches – not only for chronic wounds, but also for organ regeneration and infection research.
The Fulbright Programme
The Fulbright Programme supports outstanding young researchers in establishing international collaborations. It promotes academic exchange to and from the USA. In Germany, the programme is run by the German-American Fulbright Commission (Fulbright Germany). Samuel Sung is the fifth person to come to MHH from the USA as part of the programme. Six scientists have already gone from the MHH to the USA.
Highest proportion of foreign doctoral students
According to the Lower Saxony State Office for Statistics, 25 per cent of the total of 13,817 doctoral students at 13 universities in Lower Saxony in 2024 were foreign nationals. The MHH had the highest proportion of foreign doctoral students at 37.6 per cent. Most of them are pursuing their doctorates under the umbrella of the MHH's international graduate school, the Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS), as part of structured programmes.
SERVICE
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann, lachmann.nico@mh-hannover.de.
Samuel Sung (right) holds a dish of gel in Prof. Dr. Nico Lachmann's (left) laboratory. He demonstra ...
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
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