The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) sponsors basic and clinical research in the areas of burn, shock, and trauma. NIGMS also funds research on some aspects of surgery--often referred to as "controlled trauma"--and various aspects of the recovery process, such as wound healing. Other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) support or conduct research in aspects of trauma, burn, and injury related to their missions, as well.
Specific Research Areas of Interest
- Resuscitation
- Shock
- Compensatory mechanisms
- Microcirculation/blood flow
- Endogenous factors, including stress hormones, immune system molecules, and neurotransmitters
- Inflammatory/immune response disorders
- Infection and sepsis
- Syndromes involving multiple organ failure
- Alterations in nutritional requirements after injury
- Wound healing and tissue repair
NIGMS funds research in the above areas that aims to translate very basic subcellular/molecular mechanisms to the clinical setting, as well as use clinical studies to generate or validate mechanistic hypotheses. An important goal of this research is to apply basic knowledge to both preventing and/or reducing complications after injury. NIGMS also supports research on established clinical practices that, in many cases, have arisen as a result of anecdotal evidence rather than rigorous, hypothesis-driven testing.
