Jakub Tolar, the University of Minnesota researcher who shared stage time with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, has been awarded $2.4 million, by the Schulze Family Foundation, to support his work creating new skin for people suffering from burns and skin diseases, such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). (Michele De Luca and Graziella Pellegrini are also doing work to treat EB. You can read more about their efforts here.)
EB is a rare disease that strikes infants. Their skin is so fragile, it blisters when touched. These children are also nicknamed butterfly children because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly’s wings.
According to a report from KARE, a Minneapolis TV news station, “Tolar and his team will next create a biological scaffold for fabricating the three dimensional skin [grown from stem cells] and prove that the therapy is safe and effective. Tolar said the treatment worked in mice when tested in the lab.” (Dr. De Luca’s work is in clinical trials in Europe.)
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Stacey Johnson

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