The ultimate goal of a physician scientist is to take observations and findings from the clinic, study them in the laboratory, and translate these findings to novel therapies to help human disease. During my research career my work has been focused primarily in the field of wound healing, the response to injury, and regenerative medicine, with an emphasis on elucidating the mechanisms involved in the regenerative response to injury in the fetus, the role of inflammation and oxidative stress in tissue repair, and the correction of abnormal healing in the adult. My team has pioneered the role of dysregulated microRNAs in the diabetic wound healing impairment, and the mechanisms of the correction of this wound healing impairment with stem cell and gene therapy. My team is developing novel treatment paradigms using small molecule therapeutics, to promote healing and tissue regeneration in multiple tissues by modulating the inflammatory response, oxidative stress, angiogenesis, and the composition of the extracellular matrix. The goal of this regenerative medicine approach is to restore normal tissue architecture and function and to prevent the complications of impaired healing after injury.