Our Research Strategy
By funding the right research and backing the brightest minds, we’re accelerating breakthroughs to improve the lives of people with scarring, now and in the future.
Scar Free Healing is Within Our Grasp
Achieving scar free healing is like climbing a mountain. No one climbs a mountain alone, and no single path will take us straight to the top. Instead, we’re tackling the problem of scarring from every angle and navigating different routes, in pursuit of the summit.
We’ve come a long way since our early days of little knowledge and simple tools. By backing the brightest minds and funding the most promising projects, we’ve made rapid progress and strengthened the UK’s research capabilities in wound healing and scarring.
Faster Breakthroughs in Research: Our Strategy to 2034
Our research strategy was developed in collaboration with people affected by scarring, our Research Council, research leaders and innovators.
Building on our achievements to date, the research strategy is our map. It guides us along the paths, identifies opportunities and defines the resources we need for success.
Our research is directed across three priority areas:
Identify
We’re uncovering the biological pathways that lead to scarring.
Change
We’re pioneering new treatments to improve wound healing and prevent scarring.
Support
We’re helping people with scars live positive, independent lives.
Identify: How and why do scars form?
The more we know about what causes a scar, the more we can intervene to stop a scar from forming.
Despite decades of research, there’s still a lot we don’t understand about the healing process. For example, we know that some people scar more than others – but why?
To answer that question, we need more information on the genes involved in healing, and how they work in different types of cells.
A lot of our research into this area is around finding which genes cause scarring.
Our programme in Bristol is looking at different groups of people, such as women with caesarean section and people with cleft lip and palate scars, to understand the different genes involved and how they interact to produce scars.
We also support research aimed at learning more about what happens in the bodies of animals that heal without scars.
We have also funded work on hard–to–heal wounds caused by conditions such as diabetes. These studies are helping us discover the underlying mechanisms controlling the behaviour of inflammatory cells during wound healing.
As well as learning about the genes that influence scarring, we also want to learn more about the factors that control the speed and efficiency of the healing process. This includes learning what slows, prevents, or speeds up healing, and how different injuries or diseases alter the normal healing process.
Change: How do we prevent scarring?
Until we know more about the way scars form, we need to do our best to stop wounds from becoming significant scars.
The faster a wound heals, the more minimal the scarring caused by the wound will be. Infections, poor circulation, nutritional deficiencies, as well as lifestyle and environmental factors, can cause hard-to-heal wounds.
We have a long track record of research in this area, and it continues to be central to our activities.
Our previous and current research includes a public information campaign around scald prevention and first aid in children.
We have also been involved in the development of a ‘smart’ dressing’ that detects infection-causing bacteria in the wound, changing colour for immediate visual diagnosis. This avoids the overuse of antibiotics and the need for painful dressing changes to check for infection.
We are currently supporting an early-stage clinical trial of a new dressing containing a pro-healing substance that actively prevents scar formation.
We are also funding a programme of work that includes the development of 3D ‘bioprinted’ facial cartilage (such as ears and noses) for the future treatment of people who are either born without body parts, such as ears or live with facial scarring. Currently, surgeons need to take cartilage from other areas of a person’s body to reconstruct facial cartilage, a process that creates more scars.
Other previous research looked at the clues in the blood of a person with a burn to create a test that can predict those patients who will go on to develop scar-causing infections.
Today, our research in this area takes multiple paths:
We are interested in developing our understanding of inflammation so we can ‘dampen’ the body’s response to injuries such as burns. This will improve wound healing and the resulting scar.
Some drugs that are already on the market have been shown to aid wound healing and diminish scarring. We will support research that investigates the pro-healing abilities of ‘repurposed’ drugs.
We will examine different methods for delivering pro-healing drugs, such as dressings, biomaterials, micro-needling and laser therapy. For example, can we use lasers to deliver drugs beneath the surface of a wound?
We want to find out more about the micro-environment within the wound. For example, is it possible to manipulate the healing process by changing how cells interact in the wound?
Today, some cancer patients can access treatments tailored to their specific genes. In the future, we could do the same for scarring using our knowledge of scarring genes. Could we recommend treatments to people tailored to their unique genetic makeup and health circumstances?
Support: How do we live with scarring?
Scars are more than skin-deep – they can have a huge impact on how we move, how we look, and how we feel.
For many years after their initial injury, and sometimes for the rest of their lives, people living with scarring may have to face multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and daily physiotherapy. They might feel self-conscious because of their new appearance or have tight scars that make it difficult to do everyday tasks.
Until scar free healing becomes a reality, our research focuses on improving the lives of those living with significant scars.
We have delivered a range of research aimed at helping people live with the physical and psychological impact of scarring. This includes the world’s largest study of adjustment to visible difference, involving 1,265 adults with a range of visible differences.
Other previous work includes projects aimed at understanding which patients with facial scars are at the greatest risk of mental health problems.
We have also conducted studies to understand the support needs of veterans with a visible difference. We work closely with the CASEVAC Club to learn more about the lived experience of injured veterans.
We are also researching whether laser therapy can be used to improve historic scars.
Looking into the future, we are committed to funding research into treatments to improve the lives of people living with scarring.
Keeping people with scars at the heart of our research means our funding always goes where it will have the biggest impact. We consult with people living with scarring on what matters most to them: how they move, how they look, and how they feel about themselves.
Significant scarring on a person’s joints can make the skin contracted and tight. Sometimes this affects a person’s ability to perform day-to-day tasks.
There are still many ‘unknowns’ about the best kind of treatments to prevent ‘functional’ issues. We need more research into the role that treatments such as splinting, stretching, massage and pressure garments play.
People with visible scars are sometimes offered camouflage make-up or prosthetics. Most of these products have changed little over the years and lack sophistication. We want to find new ways to minimise the appearance of scars, to help people living with scarring feel confident with how they look.
Sometimes it is hard for the observer to understand what a person is ‘seeing’ when they look at their scars. The ‘story’ of a scar on a person’s body can include painful memories about how they acquired the scar or the treatment they received.
Scarring can change a person’s sense of self and affect their perceptions about how other people see them.
We must keep investing in research into the psychological impact of scarring. We especially want to find new ways to help people accept their scars and overcome trauma.
Interested in our research?
Visit our Research page to read through summaries of all of our current and recently completed projects.
