Pamela Moalli, director of urogynecology and pelvic reconstruction surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Magee-Womens Hospital and the Magee-Womens Research Institute, is the leader of an international team that was awarded the $1 million Magee Prize. The team is working to develop new biomaterials to repair tissue loss in women with compromised vaginal structure and function. The Magee Prize, which is funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, is among the largest grants of its kind in women’s health that is awarded by a non-government institution.
An increasing number of women are seeking vaginal reconstruction to repair tissue loss after surgery for pelvic cancers or following ovariectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, which can result in the vagina becoming contracted, thinned, and painful. After noticing a limited range of biomaterials for these procedures, Dr. Moalli was inspired to develop better solutions.
“I am beyond excited about this study because it provides a viable solution to young girls and women in whom vaginal structure and function have been compromised. Stem cell technologies for use in tissue biofabrication is where the future of reconstructive surgery lies,” Dr. Moalli said.
A graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island with a degree in biology, Dr. Moalli earned her medical degree and a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Northwestern University in Illinois.
Dr. Moalli’s research team also includes Kyle Orwig of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Caroline Gargett of Monash University in Australia.