Sadaf Sohrabi

All Disciplines Award, Harvard University - Dermatopathology

Healing skin leaves scars. We have all experienced this throughout our lives but in serious cases, such as burns, skin can heal with large contractures impairing breathing. Wounds can even fail to heal at all – leaving patients with chronic infections, limb amputations, and even death. As an academic surgical trainee working in Edinburgh, Sadaf has sought to investigate the mechanisms behind skin wound healing using human scar and Dupuytren’s disease tissue. She will join the highly collaborative and world leading Harvard Stem Cell Institute dermato-pathology research group to investigate why our skin heals by scarring, and better understand the mechanisms which can go awry in skin regeneration. Beyond the lab, Sadaf is looking forward to experiencing the New England way of life, immersing herself in the community, and lending her jazz saxophone skills to the local jazz band.