EPUAP Starting Grant
2024-2025
Topic: Empowering Patient Expertise (EmpowerPEx): Establishing an advisory panel to identify research priorities for pressure ulcer prevention through lived experience partnership
Period: 2024-2026
Researcher: Dr. Hannah Wilson, RCSI
Dr Hannah Wilson is the Principle Investigator for this project. Hannah is a Strategic Academic Recruitment (StAR) Research Lecturer in Nursing and Tissue Viability within the Skin Wounds and Trauma (SWaT) Research Centre, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Professor Zena Moore and Professor Declan Patton, SWaT director and deputy director in RCSI, are project partners. In addition, Professor Wendy Chaboyer and Dr Georgia Tobiano, Wiser Wound Care Research Lead and Senior Research fellow are project partners from Griffith University, Menzies Health Institute Queensland Australia.
Topic: ASPECT: Evaluation of soft tissues properties in the context of pressure ulcer prevention in high-risk populations
Period: 2024-2026
Researcher: Maher Abou Karam, Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology (ENSAM)
Project team:
Geriatricians: Maher ABOU KARAM; Amina LAHLOU; Fatma MAAZOUN
Physical/occupational therapists: Reine MOGHAMES; Melvil JOYAUX
Biomechanical engineers/ academic advisors: Pierre Yves ROHAN; Claudio VERGARI, Hélène PILLET
Topic: The impact of the digital PI-game on nursing students’ skills to categorize and stage pressure injuries
Period: 2024-2025
Researcher: Ayşe Sılanur Demir, Koç University
Project Team:
Ayşe Sılanur Demir, Havanur Kılıç, Aleyna Uçanbelen, Ayişe Karadağ
EPUAP Seed Funding
2023-2024
Effects of critical patient-centered skin barrier functions of skin
PRE-NET - A network of researchers and service users to prevent and manage pressure ulcers in pre-frail older adults through early nutrition interventions
Tuğba Yeni
Clinical Emerging Research
2023-2024
Tuğba Yeni, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa/ Istanbul Bilgi University
I am a PhD student in Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Florence Nightingale Nursing Faculty in Turkey, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nuray Enç. My department is internal medical nursing/intensive care nursing. I worked as an intensive care nurse for nine years and currently I am working as a lecturer in İstanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Health Sciences. Maintaining skin integrity in intensive care unit is my specific area. My master thesis focused on awarenes of ICU nurses on pressure injuries and incontinence associated dermatitis.
My PhD project which is conducted nowadays is to investigate the effects of critical patient-centered skin care on barrier functions of skin. This study organized as a randomized controlled trial has two phases. While first phase is to create patient-centered skin care for critically ill patients, second phase is to apply it in ICU. As a primary outcome, skin barrier functions (transepidermal water loss, skin pH and skin temperature) will be assesed and incidence of pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis will be recorded as secondary outcome.
Dr Peter Worsley at the Faculty of Health Sciences in the University of Southampton has extensive experience in detailed assesment of skin and prevention of pressure injuries and incontinence-associated dermatitis. Working for a while with Dr. Peter Worsley and his team thanks to EPUAP funding will contribute a lot to improve my academical knowledge and skills.
Contact: tugba.yeni@bilgi.edu.tr / tgbyeni@gmail.com
Duygu Sezgin
Clinical Emerging Research
2023-2024
Dr. Duygu Sezgin is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer and Programme Director for the Wound Healing and Tissue Repair MSc/PGDip in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Galway, Ireland.
Dr. Sezgin has MSc and PhD degrees in Public Health Nursing from Istanbul University. Dr. Sezgin has research and lecturing experience in universities in Turkey and Ireland. Since moving to Ireland in 2016 to take up a role as a postdoctoral researcher, she has been involved in multiple national and international research projects. Her research focuses on chronic disease management including frailty and wound care, as well as models of care and nursing workforce issues.
EPUAP Exchange scholarships for emerging research
2020 - 2021
Using a suction blister model to evaluate the efficacy of a new skin protection method based on the application of sodium pyruvate
Clinical relevance of a simplified framework for generating in silico models from freehand Ultrasound for monitoring internal tissue strains for the prevention of Pressure Ulcers: US-based Finite Element models versus MRI-based Finite Element models
The relationship between subepidermal moisture measurement and inflammatory markers in the early identification of pressure ulcers
Development, implementation and evaluation of a pressure ulcer treatment intervention (including local treatment and secondary prevention) for patients suffering from spinal cord injury in a specialised Danish healthcare setting.
Dafna Schwartz
Lab Emerging Research
2020-2021
Dafna Schwartz, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University
Dafna Schwartz is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical department in Tel-Aviv university under the supervision of Prof. Amit Gefen. In her current research she is focusing on the role of advanced deep learning algorithms in pressure ulcer management and diagnoses.
Dafna has a B.sc in Mechanical Engineering from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and a M.sc in Biomedical Engineering from Tel Aviv university, Israel, graduated magna cum laude. She completed her Master work also in the lab of Prof. Amit Gefen. Her thesis topic was: Assessment of the biomechanical and biothermal efficacy of dressings used in pressure ulcer prevention and treatment.
Pierre-Yves Rohan
Lab Emerging Research
2020-2021
- Pierre-Yves ROHAN, Assistant Professor, Institut de Biomécanique Humaine Georges Charpak, Arts et Métiers
- Sam EVANS, Head of School of Engineering, Cardiff University
- Yohan PAYAN, Senior CNRS research director, head of the Computer Assisted Medical Intervention (CAMI) group and deputy director of TIMC-IMAG laboratory.
Pierre-Yves Rohan is Assistant Professor at the Institut de Biomécanique Humaine Georges Charpak, ENSAM, Paris, France specialized in soft tissue biomechanics and computational mechanics applied to finite deformations.
He graduated in Computational Mechanics from ENSEIRB-MATMECA in 2010 and received a PhD in Mechanics and Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne in 2013 where he worked under the direction of Professor Stéphane Avril and Professor Pierre Badel on the Biomechanical response of lower leg veins to Medical Elastic Compression. From 2013 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral fellow at TIMC-IMAG laboratory in Grenoble under the supervision of Professor Yohan Payan contributing to the development of a biomechanical model of the oral cavity for the pre-operative planning of tongue surgeries.
He currently conducts research activities in the field of soft tissue biomechanics and focalizes on understanding the medical device-related injuries resulting from the complex interaction between external orthotic devices and the skin. The work of his PhD student, Aurélien Macron, received the Journal of Tissue Viability & Journal of Clinical Biomechanics Award during the 20th EPUAP Annual Meeting 2018 in Rome, Italy.
Natalie L. McEvoy
Clinical Emerging Research
2020-2021
Natalie L. McEvoy, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
I am a PhD Scholar in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, under the supervision of Professor Zena Moore and Professor Declan Patton. I hold a BSc in General Nursing, a Postgraduate Diploma in Neuroscience Nursing as well as a MSc in Neuroscience Nursing. I have clinical experience in critical care nursing and in particular neuro critical care. My particular area of interest is the maintenance of skin integrity in the critically ill patient in intensive care. The aim of my PhD study is to establish the correlation between IL-1α and total protein (TP) and sub-epidermal moisture (SEM) measurement in the early detection of pressure ulcers in adult intensive care patients. The study involves the sampling of sebum using Sebutape, and measurement of SEM capacitance from at-risk skin sites in critically ill patients (sacrum, both heels and a control site) using the SEM ScannerTM (Bruin Biometrics). SEM and Sebutape samples will be taken at the same time points, to assess any potential associations between the inflammatory measurement approaches.
Dr Peter Worsley at the Faculty of Health Sciences in the University of Southampton has extensive experience in using Sebutape as well as the processes involved in the analysis of sebum for the presence of cytokines. This Exchange Scholarship enabled by EPUAP, will allow me to further understand the processes involved in handling the tapes and extracting the sebum from the tapes as well as the processes involved is analysing the samples to extract the desired protein from the sebum.
The Exchange Scholarship will provide me with the skills and knowledge needed to complete my PhD project which will enhance the quality of care given to adult intensive care patients as well as reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in this cohort of patients.
Knærke Søgaard
Clinical Emerging Research
2020-2021
Knaerke Soegaard is PhD student at Department of Plastic Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
RN, Critical Care Nurse, Master of Public Quality Management (MPQM) from University of Southern Denmark
Knaerke has experience in intensive care nursing and working with critically ill children. Since 2007 Knaerke has been working with patient safety and quality improvement in health care, in different departments, as a hospital staff member and at a national level in Denmark. Pressure ulcer prevention has been one of Knaerke´s primary interests since 2013 and especially focusing on pressure ulcer prevention among children and people suffering from spinal cord injury.
Knaerke is doing a Joint PhD at University of Southern Denmark and Ghent University (2020-2022) entitled: ‘Development, implementation and evaluation of a pressure ulcer treatment protocol for patients suffering from spinal cord injury in a specialised Danish healthcare setting’.
Email: knaerke.soegaard@rsyd.dk
2019
The incidence of pressure ulcers after open heart surgery and the impact of pressure ulcers of patients experience in Sweden and Belgium
Heel Pressure Ulcers: Back to Basics
Analysis of the temporal biomechanical signals for a predictive algorithm of posture and movement
Karin Falk-Brynhildsen
Clinical Emerging Research
2019
Karin Falk-Brynhildsen, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institution: Örebro University, Sweden
Bethany Keenan
Clinical Emerging Research
2019
Bethany Keenan, Soft Tissue Biomechanics, School of Engineering, Cardiff University
Dr Bethany Keenan is a Research Fellow at the School of Engineering, Cardiff University in Wales. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
Bethany completed an undergraduate degree in Medical Engineering at Cardiff University in 2011 before moving to Brisbane, Australia to read a PhD in ‘Medical Imaging and Biomechanical Analysis of Scoliosis Progression in the Growing Adolescent Spine’ at Queensland University of Technology in May 2015. During this time she worked closely with clinicians, surgeons, radiographers and bioengineers to understand the clinical and biomechanical factors related to the progression and management of spine deformity in both children and adolescents. She learnt and developed novel 3D MRI techniques which have since aided her future research in soft tissue mechanics.
Bethany’s current research combines medical imaging and finite element analysis to better understand the biomechanical behaviour of soft tissues in the heel to improve pressure ulcer treatment and prevention. She was awarded the EPUAP and 3M Pressure Ulcer and IAD Innovation Award for her work in 2018.
Silvia Caggiari
Lab Emerging Research
2019
Silvia Caggiari, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton
2018
Topic: PUPOSE T – Clinical evaluation of a new risk assessment tool in a Swedish context
Type: Clinical Emerging Research
Period: 2018
Researcher: Lisa Hultin, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University
Topic: Medical Device Related Pressure Ulcers
Type: Lab Emerging Research
Period: 2018
Researcher: Lea Cohen, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University
Topic: The Outcomes for Pressure Ulcer Trials (OUTPUTS): Development of a core outcome set for trials evaluating the clinical efficacy or effectiveness of pressure ulcer prevention interventions
Type: Clinical Emerging Research
Period: 2018 – 2021
Researchers: Jane Nixon, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Susanne Coleman, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Delia Muir, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Jan Kottner, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science; Katrin Balzer, Institute for Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Anna Lechner, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science
PUPOSE T – Clinical evaluation of a new risk assessment tool in a Swedish context
Medical Device Related Pressure Ulcers
The Outcomes for Pressure Ulcer Trials (OUTPUTS): Development of a core outcome set for trials evaluating the clinical efficacy or effectiveness of pressure ulcer prevention interventions
Lisa Hultin
Clinical Emerging Research
2018
Lisa Hultin, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University
Lea Cohen
Lab Emerging Research
2018
Lea Cohen, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University
Jane Nixon
Clinical Emerging Research
2018-2021
Jane Nixon, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Susanne Coleman, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Delia Muir, Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds; Jan Kottner, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science; Katrin Balzer, Institute for Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Anna Lechner, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science