Ira Herman

Dr. Ira M. Herman is a tenured professor and director of the Center for Innovations in Wound Healing Research at the Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Herman holds appointments in the departments of physiology, anatomy & cellular biology, ophthalmology and biomedical engineering. Professor Herman is a founding member and director emeritus of the Integrated Studies Program at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University School of Medicine and is a recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award.

Throughout his professional career, and since the time of his graduate and post-graduate studies at Tulane University, Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, professor Herman’s research interests have been focused on revealing the mechanisms controlling cellular and tissue responses to injury and tissue regeneration, including the vascular remodeling and angiogenesis controlling wound healing. These basic studies have given rise to several fundamental insights and a deepened understanding of many physiologic and pathologic processes, including the molecular mechanisms regulating cell migration, cytokinesis and tissue morphogenesis. Furthermore, these discoveries have fostered the development of novel technologies for therapeutics and device development that have been described in several issued and pending US and international patents, some of which focus on the promotion of wound healing, scar-less healing, inhibition of ocular or tumor-induced angiogenesis, the etiology of essential hypertension and the abrogation of cancer cell invasion.

During his three-decade tenure at Tufts University, professor Herman has published scores of scholarly reviews and book chapters, and over sixty primary research papers appearing in high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals. He serves as editor and scientific reviewer for many scientific journals and is regularly invited as a speaker at scientific meetings, worldwide. Fulfilling his commitment to the scientific community, Professor Herman continues to serve as scientific reviewer and expert consultant for pharma and the biotechnology sectors while having chaired and continuing to participate on grant advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association and NASA.