Reconstructive Surgery Research Laboratory

John H. Barker, MD, PhD
Professor & Director of Research
“Honoris Causas” Professor, National University of Cordoba, Argentina

Claudio Maldonado, PhD
Associate Professor
Asst. Director of Research
(Pictured far right)

Together, Dr. John Barker and Dr. Claudio Maldonado head the Reconstructive Surgery Research Laboratory, which has received more than $5 million in funding. The laboratory maintains "sister" laboratories in Utrecht, The Netherlands; Frankfurt, Germany, and Cordoba, Argentina.

Their research focuses on four major areas:

Composite Tissue Allotransplantation
Investigating scientific, clinical, and ethical issues related to transplanting tissues such as the hand, face, and larynx.

Functional Electrical Stimulation
Creating methods of electrically stimulating muscle flaps to restore function to urinary, fecal, and stomal neo-sphincters.

Ischemic Preconditioning in Skeletal Muscle
Developing methods to manipulate the body's own protective mechanisms against ischemic insults.

Promoting Tissue Preservation
Pursuing novel methods for delivering agents to tissues and researching techniques to deliver compounds to tissues to promote tissue preservation.

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