Surgery Receives ACS Surgical Adhesions Improvement Project Grant

August 11, 2025

Researchers in the Department of Surgery have received funding from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) through the Surgical Adhesions Improvement Project. The two-year $100,000 grant will support their project: Sustained release, intraperitoneal T-5224-hydrogel therapy for the prevention of abdominal adhesions.

“This grant will fund the next phase in an ongoing collaborative project, which explores application of a sustained release anti-JUN therapeutic for prevention of post-operative abdominal adhesion formation,” said Dr. Deshka Foster, one of the Co-PIs on the project.

Dr. Michael Longaker from the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery will be the Principal Investigator on the project. Drs. Dan Delitto and Foster from the Division of General Surgery will serve as CO-PIs alongside Eric Appel, PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The group previously identified JUN as a transcriptional master regulator of adhesion-forming fibroblasts and suppression of JUN signaling via intraperitoneal delivery of a small molecule inhibitor (T5224) prevented adhesion formation. In collaboration with the Appel laboratory, they encapsulated T5224 in a shear-thinning hydrogel (Foster et al., Sci. Transl. Med., 2025).

Dr. Michael Longaker

Dr. Eric Appel

Dr. Dan Delitto

Dr. Deshka Foster

Media Contact

Director of Communications

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Bio

As the Director of Communications for Stanford Surgery, Rachel Baker tells the stories of her department's faculty, staff, and trainees. With the help of an amazing team of content creators, she produces and curates original articles, photos, videos, graphics, and even podcasts.She works personally with each division, center, program, and lab within her purview to define their audience and reach their goals while maintaining a consistent brand voice. She hosts quarterly professional development workshops open to all AEM web authors--please email her if you'd like to join! She also offers both 1:1 and group education to faculty and residents on a variety of topics including media training, using social media to advantage, and presentation refinement. Rachel holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a focus on photography from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A transplant from the DC-area, she still misses foliage and argyle but has happily adopted the official NorCal hobbies of visiting wineries, hiking local trails, and eating avocado.

About Stanford Surgery

The Stanford University Department of Surgery is dedicated to inventing the future of surgical care through:

• pioneering cutting-edge research,
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To learn more, please visit surgery.stanford.edu

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