Lay summary
Chronic wounds are non-healing wounds in which the physiological healing process is impaired, often in parallel with an underlying disease or condition, for example, peripheral vascular disorders, diabetes and obesity. This is one of the most common, yet underrated, global concerns, often leading to significant morbidity, amputation and even death. In New Zealand, chronic wounds are one of the most common causes of medical incapacity with their incidence and consequent amputation and disability being significantly higher in the Māori.
Persistent inflammation is the hallmark feature of chronic wounds, however, clinical translation of anti-inflammatory therapeutics has been limited by the difficulty in delivering therapeutically relevant drug concentrations to the wound site. This project aims to enable clinical translation of New Zealand invented therapeutics to improve to improve wound care and foster health equity.