"FAKIing It" selected as cover story for Science Translational Medicine

We are absolutely honored that our study, published today in Science Translational Medicine, was selected as the cover feature. Thank you to all my co-authors and collaborators at Stanford Plastic Surgery and University of Arizona Department of Surgery.

FAKIng It. Chen et al. used the red Duroc pig as a clinically relevant model to study healing of split-thickness skin grafts (STSGs). Single-cell RNA seq revealed up-regulation of mechanotransduction pathways during graft healing. To disrupt these pathways, we applied a hydrogel containing focal adhesion kinase inhibitor (FAKI) and found it improved wound healing with anti-inflammatory effects at early time points and pro-regenerative effects at later time points, suggesting FAKI could treat deep injuries requiring STSGs.