Public Voting for Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Stepping Strong Innovator Awards Is Open

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) opened public voting this week for the Stepping Strong Innovator Awards, which is a brand new competition (reps say that it will be annual) inspired by Gillian Reny, a student and aspiring dancer, who was treated at BWH after nearly losing her life when she was injured by the bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Gillian and her family launched the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Fund in February 2014, which is designed to “inspire innovative research in limb regeneration, limb transplant, advanced stem cell technology, orthopedic and plastic surgery, and bioengineering.”

The goal of the awards is to fund “high-reward projects” by BWH physician-researchers. After a review of applicants by a medical and scientific panel, three finalists were chosen for public voting:

“Recovering Limb Function: A New Surgical Approach for the 21st Century” submitted by Matthew Carty, MD, staff surgeon at BWH and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS)

“Wound Chamber Magic: Clearing Infection and Supporting Tissue Restoration” submitted by E.J. Caterson, MD, PhD, associate surgeon at BWH and instructor at HMS

“Muscle Might Makes Right: Using Stem Cells to Regenerate Injured Muscle” submitted by Indranil Sinha, MD, burn surgery fellow at BWH and instructor at HMS

Public voting opened Oct. 20 and continues through Nov. 20. To vote and learn more about the projects, visit: bwhresearchday.partners.org/ssf/