Acute Hospital
The acute period after a burn injury is critical to recovery. We are currently developing better treatment pathways for surgical intervention and for therapies that assist recovery after surgery. This includes looking at the potential of 3D bioprinting to improve wound repair, the use of real-time guided tissue debridement at the time of surgery, and the development of new drugs that can reduce scar formation as the wound heals.
Guided/Assisted surgical intervention using new technology and advanced analytics has enormous potential to improve the outcomes when surgery is required. Similarly, new drugs that can modulate the healing process to improve pliability and the appearance of scar tissue can not only improve aesthetic outcomes but may reduce the long-term systemic impacts of the burn by reducing the burden of fibrotic tissue.
Professor Fiona Wood
AM, FRCS, FRACS
Fiona Wood has been a burns surgeon and researcher for over 30 years and is Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia (BSWA).
She is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children's Hospital; co-founder of the first skin cell laboratory in WA; Winthrop Professor in the School of Surgery at The University of Western Australia; and co-founder of the Fiona Wood Foundation (formerly The McComb Foundation).
Learn More about Fiona Wood here.
Professor Suzanne Rea
MB, Bch (Hons), MRCSF, FRCSI(Plast) PhD
Suzanne is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital. Her research has been awarded by the Australian and New Zealand Burns Association and the American Burns Association.
Suzanne is currently researching the role of the bone marrow, peripheral nerve and muscle responses to burn injury, as well as supervising epidemiology studies to identify areas for further scientific research. She is also driving research into paediatric burn injuries and outcomes and also is instrumental in our research involving the laser.
Helen Douglas
MBChB MSc MD FRCS(Plast) FRACS
Helen is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children's Hospital and is instrumental in our research including our work around laser and timing of its intervention, and Vitamin D research.
Dr Ed Raby - PhD Candidate
Ed is a Clinical Microbiologist and Infectious Disease Specialist. He is currently studying towards a PhD at UWA. Ed holds both a Raine Foundation clinical fellowship and the Cynthia Banham research fellowship as well as research grants from the Spinnaker Health Research Foundation and WA Health which have facilitated a programme of research focussing on infection and inflammation following burn injury.
Development of Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) for use in surgery after acute trauma.
Monitoring the lipidomic profile of acute burn wound healing in adults.
Early identification and prevention of surgical wound complications.
The effectiveness and safety of perioperative nutrition in burn injuries: a systematic review.
Development, distibution and validation of an animated visual tool and picture base printed resource, to ensure culturally secure transfers of regional & remote Aboriginal Burns patients, to the State Adult Burns Unit.
Collaboration between Breast Cancer Centre and FWF to evaluate the histological and clinical progression of post radiation fibrosis in breast cancer patients.