Research Programs

The AFIRM has five major research programs:

The AFIRM supports research on topics related to developing advanced treatment options for severely Wounded Warriors. Choose an item below to learn more about each area.

Extremity Injury Treatment

This focus area aims to deliver products that may decrease the need for amputation following severe trauma, including compartment syndrome, thereby enabling our Wounded Warriors to restore form and function to damaged arms, hands, legs and feet. Therapeutic strategies employ the novel use of cells, biomaterials, scaffolds and procedures to address complex trauma to vasculature, nerves, bones, cartilage and muscle.

Craniomaxillofacial Reconstruction

This focus area aims to deliver products that improve and restore function and appearance after severe facial injury. Therapeutic strategies include tissue engineering and the use of novel biomaterials and scaffolds to generate both soft and hard tissues reducing the impact of devastating, disfiguring facial injuries. Such therapeutics will facilitate restoring both sensate and motor competencies through muscle and nerve regeneration. By also addressing the confounding effects of scar formation and fibrotic injury and preventing infection this will aid in enhancing rehabilitation and restoring function and improving the appearance and aesthetic of the craniomaxillofacial compartment.

Skin Injury Treatment

This focus area aims to deliver products that provide skin injury victims, to include severe burn victims, with the opportunity to recover from their injuries with improved function and appearance. Therapeutic strategies include the treatment of burns or attenuation of burn progression by to application of novel drugs in development through intravenous or topical routes of administration. The investigation of enhanced wound healing and scar prevention includes the novel application of cells, bioprinters, anti-inflammatory agents, scaffolds of novel biomaterials, skin substitutes and stress shielding technologies.

Vascular Composite Tissue Allotransplantation and Immunomodulation

This focus area aims to deliver products to advance the field of transplantation of composite tissues such as hand, arm and face transplants and research into the management of life-long immune suppression required to preserve the function of transplanted tissues.

Genitourinary and Lower Abdominal Injury Treatment

This focus area aims to provide restoration of form and function for victims of catastrophic genitourinary injury.