Pitt McGowan Wound Research Consortium
Pitt McGowan Wound Research Consortium: Accelerating Innovation from Bench to Bedside
The Pitt McGowan Wound Research Consortium connects industry partners with University of Pittsburgh experts and UPMC’s clinical network to advance wound healing solutions. We offer full-spectrum support from initial mechanism-of-action studies through bench research, animal modeling, and clinical trials—tailored for project-specific needs or as a long-term extension of your company’s R&D.
Partnering with us unlocks strategic advantages:
- Direct access to Pitt’s interdisciplinary ecosystem, including bioengineering and regenerative medicine labs.
- Collaboration with UPMC’s 20 specialized wound care facilities and hospital inpatient network, serving a diverse patient population for rapid trial enrollment.
- Proven expertise in all research phases, from mechanism-of-action studies to regulatory-compliant Phase I-IV trials.
- A network of over 30 Institute investigators and Pitts’ entire health sciences college faculty.
- Opportunities for co-development and out-licensing of institute IP, accelerating market entry for wound diagnostics, devices, and biologics.
Strategic Priorities
- Propel the commercialization of novel wound therapies through integrated pre-clinical and clinical pipelines.
- Drive trial excellence with innovative approaches for efficient wound management.
- Foster multidisciplinary collaborations among academia, industry, and government to address unmet needs in chronic and acute wound care.
Pre-Clinical Capabilities
Our pre-clinical arm leverages advanced models and technologies to validate mechanisms and optimize therapies before human trials. We offer robust, ethical platforms for rapid iteration.
- Mechanism of Action (MOA) Expertise: In-depth studies such as using spatial biology tools (Xenium, Visium, Akoya Phenocycler, Keyence, scRNAseq) to map cellular responses at single-cell resolution.
- Porcine, Primate, and Rodent Capabilities: High-throughput modeling for realistic human analogs.
- Animal Models and Development: Customized models including chronic ischemic wounds, chronic burns, biofilms, burn scars, maxillo-facial thermal trauma, penetrating injuries, and chemical/radiation exposures.
- Anti-Biofilm Expertise: Strategies targeting multi-species/multidrug-resistant biofilm infections and therapeutics.
- Nanotechnology and Engineering: Integration of prosthetics, orthotics, bioengineering/product design, 3D printing, and resins for custom device prototyping.
- Select State-of-the-Art Lab Equipment: Including LCM (Laser Capture Microdissection), Oxford Nanoimaging, Axio Scan, Airyscan, High Res Ultrasound, and Nanosight NS300 for nanoscale analysis and imaging.
These capabilities enable industry partners to de-risk technologies, such as phage delivery systems or 3D-printed scaffolds.
Clinical Capabilities
Building on pre-clinical foundations, our clinical operations support full-spectrum trial management within UPMC and other health networks, emphasizing patient-centric designs.
- Access to diverse patient cohorts across more than 20 wound healing facilities for efficient recruitment and retention.
- Expertise in trial design, execution, regulatory compliance (FDA/EMA-aligned), quality management, and database integration/reporting.
- Focus on phases I-IV, including investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored studies in advanced therapies.
Contact Us
Ready to collaborate on groundbreaking wound research or explore out-licensing opportunities? Reach out to Brent Toto at btoto@pitt.edu.