{"id":147,"date":"2018-10-10T12:39:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T12:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/dev-surgery\/?page_id=147"},"modified":"2025-09-11T19:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T19:27:08","slug":"surgical-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/surgical-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgical Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-147\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-147-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h1 class=\"entry-title\">Surgical Research<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-147-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p>The ongoing research programs in the Division of Surgical Research are diverse and involve the study of a number of diseases and biological processes including ischemic heart disease, glaucoma, diabetes, aging of the bladder and skeletal system, cancer, otoslcerosis, and inflammation and wound healing.\u00a0<em>In vitro<\/em>\u00a0cell studies, mouse models for human disease, tissue engineering with the development of novel biosensors and biomaterials, molecular biology techniques, and human gene mapping are some of the many experimental approaches applied to these health problems.<\/p>\n<p>These are the specific projects identified by initials of the principal investigators listed below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tissue reactions in inflammation and wound healing in particular the roles of cytokines and chemokines networks (DK).<\/li>\n<li>Bladder cancer and the role of inflammatory cytokines in the tumor microenvironment (JT).<\/li>\n<li>Biomarkers for disease progression and response to treatment in high grade bladder cancer for the development of novel therapeutics (JT).<\/li>\n<li>Mechanisms that govern the pathology of ischemic heart disease and the processes of angiogenesis and arteriogenesis in cellular and animal models of heart disease (NM).<\/li>\n<li>Engineered stem cell therapy for cardiac and wound repair (NM).<\/li>\n<li>Epigenetic modification in cardiovascular and peripheral artery diseases (NM).<\/li>\n<li>Breast cancer and the human biofield (GG).<\/li>\n<li>Development of a biomaterial to sequentially deliver growth factors to aging bone (GG).<\/li>\n<li>Human gene mapping, cloning, mutation screening, population studies, next-generation exome and DNA sequencing as well as\u00a0<em>in vivo<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>in vitro<\/em>\u00a0analyses of biological pathways involved in the etiology of glaucoma (MS).<\/li>\n<li>Molecular tissue engineering and radio frequency telemetry to enhance the function and lifespan of implantable materials and devices including glucose sensors and insulin infusion sets in diabetes (UK).<\/li>\n<li>Development of biosensors to detect DNA damage and biomarker proteins that predict tissue-specific carcinogenicity (DC).<\/li>\n<li>Clinical and translational otology research (KP), otosclerosis (KP and GG) and prospective clinical investigation, utilizing narrow-band imaging in early detection of head and neck mucosal cancer (KP).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"184\" alt=\"Confocal image of microtubule assembly in dividing mesenchymal stem cells labeled with anti-tubulin antibody (green). To-Pro stained nuclei are shown in blue.\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/photo_surgeryresearch1.jpg\" \/><\/div><div id=\"panel-147-1-1-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image\" data-index=\"3\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"184\" alt=\"Confocal image showing the connexin43-positive (green) gap-junctional connections between adjacent cardiomyocytes (red) in heart. To-Pro stained nuclei are shown in blue.\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/photo_surgeryresearch2.jpg\" \/><\/div><div id=\"panel-147-1-1-2\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-last-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"184\" alt=\"Light micrograph of trabecular bone with alkaline phosphatase-stained osteoclasts (pink) on the bone surface.\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/photo_surgeryresearch3.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-147-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-2-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"5\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h3>Research Faculty<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-147-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-3-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-658 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/Bulsara_Ketan_6-1-17_JGelineau_7542.jpg\" alt=\"Ketan R. Bulsara, M.D., M.B.A.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ketan R. Bulsara, M.D., M.B.A.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Professor of Neurosurgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Bulsara-Ketan\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-169\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/dev-surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/gronowicz.jpg\" alt=\"Gloria Gronowicz, Ph.D.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gloria Gronowicz, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Professor Emeritus<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Gronowicz-Gloria\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-3-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-3-2-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"8\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-657 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/kelley-brian_UCH_2022-09-08_01-web.jpg\" alt=\"Brian J. Kelley, M.D., Ph.D.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Brian J. Kelley, M.D., Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Kelley-Brian\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-3-3\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-3-3-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"9\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-705\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2025\/09\/li-guangfu_UCH_2025-02-12_08-web-232x300.jpg\" alt=\"Guangfu Li, PhD\" width=\"161\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2025\/09\/li-guangfu_UCH_2025-02-12_08-web-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2025\/09\/li-guangfu_UCH_2025-02-12_08-web.jpg 473w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 161px) 100vw, 161px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Guangfu Li, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Carole and Ray Neag Innovation Professor<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Li-Guangfu\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-147-4\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-4-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-4-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"10\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-660 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/nophoto.jpg\" alt=\"No photo available\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zhili Li, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-4-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-4-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"11\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-172 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2021\/08\/maulik-nilanjana-DSC_8046-web.jpg\" alt=\"Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D., FAHA\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nilanjana Maulik, Ph.D., FAHA<br \/>\n<\/strong>Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Maulik-Nilanjana\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-4-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-4-2-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"12\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-175\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/dev-surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/parham.jpg\" alt=\"Kourosh Parham, M.D., Ph.D.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kourosh Parham, M.D., Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Parham-Kourosh\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-4-3\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-4-3-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"13\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-659 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/ristau-benjamin-20170830-Encarnacion-3321.jpg\" alt=\"Benjamin T. Ristau, M.D., M.H.A.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Benjamin T. Ristau, M.D., M.H.A.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Ristau-Benjamin\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-147-5\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-147-5-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-5-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"14\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/dev-surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2018\/10\/sarfarazi.jpg\" alt=\"Mansoor Sarfarazi, Ph.D.\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mansoor Sarfarazi, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Sarfarazi-Mansoor\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-5-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-5-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"15\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-660 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/nophoto.jpg\" alt=\"No photo available\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Roshanak Sharafieh, Ph.D., CG(ASCP)<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Sharafieh-Roshanak\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-5-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-5-2-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"16\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-660 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2022\/12\/nophoto.jpg\" alt=\"No photo available\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mashesh Thirunavukkarasu, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Thirunavukkarasu-Mahesh\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-147-5-3\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-147-5-3-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"17\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-708 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2025\/09\/yang_ming_160x208.jpg\" alt=\"Ming Yang, DVM, PhD\" width=\"160\" height=\"208\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ming Yang, DVM, Ph.D.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Assistant Professor of Surgery<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Yang-Ming\">Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Surgical Research The ongoing research programs in the Division of Surgical Research are diverse and involve the study of a number of diseases and biological processes including ischemic heart disease, glaucoma, diabetes, aging of the bladder and skeletal system, cancer, otoslcerosis, and inflammation and wound healing.\u00a0In vitro\u00a0cell studies, mouse models for human disease, tissue engineering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-blank.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 10:25:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":711,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/147\/revisions\/711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/surgery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}