Clinical Research

Clinical research provides state of the art therapeutic regimens for our patients as well as enhancing surgical knowledge. The large, diverse patient base at Henry Ford hospital, combined with the availability of our electronic medical record facilitates clinical research and data acquisition. The majority of faculty in the surgical department are involved in clinical research activities and serve as research mentors for our residents. The departmental research office is staffed by dedicated grants management personnel, clinical research nurses, and clerical staff to aid resident research activities.

Surgical Basic Science Research

A broad range of dedicated, basic science opportunities exist in the department of surgery in the Division of Surgical Research headed by Subhash Gautam Ph.D. Dr. Gautam is a surgical immunologist who is investigating the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells for compromised wound healing, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and cancer therapeutics. Professor Gautam has a joint appointment with Wayne State University School of medicine in the Department of Immunology/Microbiology and has served as research mentor for numerous graduate students. Promising initial results from these investigations have been presented by our residents at numerous, prestigious surgical meetings including the Surgical Forum and the Society of University Surgeons.

The department of surgery is the only surgical department in the world to participate in  NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute funded medical research involving care capabilities for the current and future space program. This research is crucial for the next phase of space exploration, however, many of the educational and therapeutics techniques which are being developed in these investigations are directly transferable to emergency care on Earth. The NASA research projects involve advanced ultrasound and laparoscopic techniques that astronauts or cosmonauts could use on ther International Space Station; residents who participate in these trials travel to the Johnson Space Center for microgravity experiments in the NASA Microgravity Research Facility.

Basic Funded Science