We study the mechanisms that determine whether tissue repair proceeds regeneratively or progresses toward chronic inflammation and fibrosis. We integrate mechanistic biology, single-cell and spatial technologies, and translational models to develop therapies that enhance healing across aging and disease.

Core Focus Areas

Wound Repair Programs
Defining cellular and molecular pathways governing inflammation, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling.

Aging and Senescence
Determining how age-associated senescent cell states impair regenerative capacity.

Fibrosis and Scarring
Identifying drivers of hypertrophic scars and keloids to uncover precision anti-fibrotic targets.

Translational Therapeutics
Developing targeted interventions that restore regenerative resilience in acute and chronic wounds.

Active Research Projects

Targeting Senescence to Improve Wound Healing in Aging

  • Funding: NIH / National Institute on Aging (K76AG083300)

  • Goals: Investigate how the age-related roles of senescent cells leads in tissue homeostasis and dysregulated repair.

    • Distinguish between “beneficial” transient senescence and “pathologic” chronic senescence in the context of cutaneous wounds.

    • Evaluate the therapeutic potential of senolytics and senomorphics to improve healing rates and tissue quality in geriatric populations.

Targeting ECM-Senescence Crosstalk to Improve Tissue Repair in Aging

  • Funding: Hevolution Foundation (Multi-PI: Jeroen Eyckmans, PhD & Daniel S. Roh, MD, PhD)

  • Goals: Map the complex reciprocal signaling between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and senescent cells.

    • Identify how age-altered ECM components trigger or sustain senescent cell states.

    • Develop novel interventions that break the “fibrosis-senescence” feedback loop to restore youthful regenerative capacity.

Stress-Induced Aging: Investigating Chronic Wound Stress as a Catalyst for Systemic Aging and Functional Decline

  • Funding: NIH / National Institute on Aging (R61AG096091)

  • Goals: Establish a novel experimental model to simulate the physiological and molecular stress of recurrent chronic wounding.

    • Determine if localized wound stress serves as a “catalyst” for systemic aging hallmarks, including frailty, muscle weakness (sarcopenia), and immune dysfunction.

    • Pilot interventions—such as exercise and senotherapeutics—to mitigate the systemic decline driven by chronic wounds.

Collaborative Research Projects

A Relaxin-loaded Hydrogel for the Treatment of Hypertrophic Scars

  • Funding: NIH / NIAMS (R01AR083161) (PI: Mark Grinstaff, PhD; Co-I: Roh)

  • Goals: Engineer and validate a specialized hydrogel delivery system for the anti-fibrotic hormone Relaxin.

    • Optimize the biochemical and mechanical properties of the hydrogel to ensure sustained, targeted release at the injury site.

    • Evaluate the efficacy of this platform in reducing the formation of hypertrophic scars and improving functional outcomes in skin remodeling.