Home Department: Biomechanical Engineering
Mentor: Michael Longaker, Surgery (Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery)

Currently, no effective treatment for cutaneous scarring exists, and, thus, there is a paramount need for novel treatments capable of preventing or reversing scarring. Jan will seek to identify the stem/progenitor cells in normal human skin, and the tissue origins of human scar-forming fibroblasts. This will be a first step towards determining novel therapeutic targets against the molecular mechanisms underlying scarring, fibrosis, and regeneration after wounding.