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null Joshua Vorstenbosch, MD, PhD

Junior Scientist, RI-MUHC, Montreal General Hospital site

Injury Repair Recovery Program

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University

 

Keywords

biomaterials • foreign body reaction • inflammation • fibrosis • breast reconstruction

Research Focus

My research focuses on how the body reacts to implantable non-rigid biomaterials. We use non-rigid biomaterials for a broad range of surgeries, such as breast reconstruction, hernia repair, and ocular lens replacement. While these materials are all safe, when adverse tissue reactions such as chronic inflammation or fibrosis occur at the tissue-implant interface, the implanted device becomes non-functional and patients suffer significant morbidity. To better understand why these adverse reactions happen, my lab studies the impact of various surgical and biomaterial factors on the tissue reaction at the implant interface. We are interested in using this information to develop surgical, molecular, and biomaterial solutions to improve the biocompatibility of non-rigid implants and their associated surgical outcomes.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Vorstenbosch J, Nguyen CM, Zhou S, Seo YJ, Siblini A, Finnson KW, Bizet AA, Tran SD, Philip A.  Overexpression of CD109 in the Epidermis Differentially Regulates ALK1 Versus ALK5 Signaling and Modulates Extracellular Matrix Synthesis in the Skin.  J Invest Dermatol. 2017 Mar;137(3):641-649. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2016.09.039. PMID: 27866969.

  • Vorstenbosch J, Al-Ajmi H, Winocour S, Trzeciak A, Lessard L, Philip A. CD109 overexpression ameliorates skin fibrosis in a mouse model of bleomycin-induced scleroderma.  Arthritis Rheum. 2013 May;65(5):1378-83. doi: 10.1002/art.37907. PMID: 23436317.

  • Vorstenbosch J, Gallant-Behm C, Trzeciak A, Roy S, Mustoe T, Philip A. Transgenic mice overexpressing CD109 in the epidermis display decreased inflammation and granulation tissue and improved collagen architecture during wound healing.  Wound Repair Regen. 2013 Mar-Apr;21(2):235-46. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12023. PMID: 23438099.

  • Winocour S, Vorstenbosch J, Trzeciak A, Lessard L, Philip A. CD109, a novel TGF-β antagonist, decreases fibrotic responses in a hypoxic wound model.  Exp Dermatol. 2014 Jul;23(7):475-9. doi: 10.1111/exd.12439.

  • Neibert K, Gopishetty V, Grigoryev A, Tokarev I, Al-Hajaj N, Vorstenbosch J, Philip A, Minko S, Maysinger D. Wound-healing with mechanically robust and biodegradable hydrogel fibers loaded with silver nanoparticles.  Adv Healthc Mater. 2012 Sep;1(5):621-30. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201200075. PMID: 23184797.