WFiona Wood moved to Perth from the UK in 1987 and was drawn to its wildlife. “Essentially, this is the most beautiful place,” she says as we walk along Matilda Bay under a canopy of leaves, the gnarled trunks of Moreton Bay figs and Cape lilacs bursting with yellow berries. I did. She said, “When she first came here, she thought, “I can see myself sitting under this tree with a thinking cap on.''
Almost 40 years later, she has certainly made her own point of view on these grounds. Just across Matilda Bay is the University of Western Australia, where Mr Wood has worked since the early '90s, first as a senior lecturer, then as professor of surgery and director of the burn research unit. “I'm part of the furniture there,” she tells me in a warm, lilting tone that's both Yorkshire and Australian.
During his 30-year career, Wood has served in a variety of roles, including plastic surgeon, clinician, burn specialist, researcher, and leader. But like many scientists, she remains fixated on her next discovery, that elusive moment of discovery, the chance to push the boundaries of medical knowledge into new territory. Interviewing her is like following her scientific train of thought mixed with self-deprecating humor. It's dizzyingly fast and completely mesmerizing.
“My staff laughs at me because I'm always trying to connect the dots. I'm in meetings and my mind is scanning the horizon for ideas. They say, ' Sometimes we connect dots that we shouldn't!'' she told me, melting into laughter.“But I'm not ashamed to be wrong. There is no such thing as a decision.”
The wood is best known for its “spray-on skins.” This is a breakthrough invention that uses the patient's own skin cells to form a new layer of skin over the burn wound, significantly reducing scarring. She used this technique to assist in the life-saving recovery of 28 victims of the Bali bombings in 2002, and for her work Wood was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia the following year. . Twenty years later, in January 2024, she was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her services to burns care.
AO joins the many roles and celebrates the accolades Wood has racked up over his prolific career. In addition to her role at UWA, she is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Perth Children's Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, Director of the WA Burn Service, Living National Treasure, former Australian of the Year, and six children She's also a mother.
As we strolled along the river, past peppermint trees and a family of black swans, Wood told me about her current obsession. She finds a solution to the “scar triangle,” the physical, psychological, and physiological changes in some burn victims that increase the likelihood of future infections, illness, and even death. I'm working on it.
This long-term research project utilizes Wood's Burn Biobank. This is the world's largest collection of biological samples from child and adult burn victims, accumulated over time to enable long-term research. There are several topics that really excites Wood, and this is one of them. If all goes as planned, the biobank and its data platform will allow her team to uncover pathways to secondary disease and provide individually tailored care. In a way never seen before.
“Personalized medicine, precision medicine. That's the future,” Wood said with a twinkle in his eye. “But how do you actually do that? Whether it's a lipid, a metabolite, an amino acid, or DNA, knowing where it falls on this vast spectrum requires a huge amount of information. This requires a huge amount of mathematical ability and machine learning.”
“We're getting closer,” she continued, holding onto her first words with determination. “It's, 'Hit the hatches, make some more money, and keep going.'”
There was one patient in particular that inspired her to begin researching this field. In 2003, Wood saved the life of a 7-year-old boy who suffered severe burns in a farm accident. Three years later, he died of a rare liver cancer.
“I was told at the time that I was just unlucky,” she says. “And that just didn't suit me. I can nag for England and Australia and I won't give up if there's a bee in my bonnet.”
Since 2010, Wood and her team have published more than 30 studies examining the association between burns and lifetime risk of cancer, inflammatory diseases, mental health, and other medical conditions, finding that there is indeed a correlation. has been demonstrated. Their next step is to figure out why.
“We're very much in the weeds at the moment. We're looking at the brain, we're looking at the immune system, we're looking at the inflammatory profile. If we can figure out who is vulnerable and why and the mechanisms, We can begin treatment.”
To beat the heat, we sat on a bench under the shade of rising lemon-scented gum trees. At 8:30 a.m., the temperature was already 29 degrees and there were thick clouds overhead. Wood talks about the research she's done to explore the role of the mind in burn recovery, and how neurology allows us to “think of ourselves holistically.” I'll tell you.
While the idea may seem novel to some, Wood believes neurology could become the holy grail of burn treatment. Currently, little is known about the brain's response to severe burns, but like many great mysteries in her research, this can only help her move forward.
“We are experimenting with transcranial magnetic stimulation,” she says. “Many are starting to use this technology for depression and post-stroke rehabilitation, but understanding how to harness neuroplasticity to enable burn recovery will be a huge step forward.”
The dialogue continues to illustrate an astonishing range of scientific thinking, with Wood moving effortlessly between regenerative medicine, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, but these are just some of the new frontiers she has in mind. .
In doing so, Wood has made progress in developing a series of new surgical instruments that are world firsts. The 3D bioprinter produces cells that replace the complex secondary skin layer, the dermis, resulting in “more complete skin reconstruction.” Wood believes the study will be ready for human trials by the middle of this year.
Also in development is the iKnife, a new tool that will allow surgeons to distinguish between live and dead tissue, one of the biggest challenges in burn surgery. “I'm really excited about this project. It will delay my retirement by many years,” Wood says. “I think there is a paradigm shift happening, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Further down the line, Wood and her team plan to explore commercialization options, as is the case with the spray skins brought to market by Abita Medical. Although the company was founded by Wood, she does not own the company and any royalties collected go back into research.
We return to UWA where she holds her next meeting. The indomitable Ms Wood has little time off, spending her days running between university, Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children's Hospital. As we walked along the river, I told her about the many patients she has saved from life-threatening injuries and what it feels like to see them make a full recovery. I asked about it.
“There was a woman who was a triathlete who suffered shocking burns in the Bali bombings,” she told me. “When she woke up from her coma, she asked me, 'You don't run anymore, can you walk again?' And I said, 'You walk, you run, you race. '.
Amazingly, the woman beat Wood in an Ironman at Busselton a few years later. “When we hugged each other across the finish line that day, our eyes never went dry.”
We crossed the road to UWA's towering limestone building, which had been Wood's second home for the past 30 years. “It wasn't until about 10 years after the Bali bombings that I realized that maybe I was suffering from trauma, because it was very difficult for me to talk about it,” she says.
Dr Wood treated 31 survivors of the 2002 explosion who were taken to Royal Perth Hospital with burns of up to 90 per cent, fatal infections and delayed shock. Her team of 19 surgeons and 130 medical staff worked around the clock to save them. But she lost her three patients and their deaths never left her.
“There are people I will never forget, and even though the circumstances are tragic, they are a part of me. The only way I know how to cope is to stay active in this research and keep discovering.” is.”
“And someday, we're going to change things and change them for the better.”