ProfessorChris Jackson

Dr Jackson’s research team is directly involved with several departments at Royal North Shore Hospital including Rheumatology, the Severe Burns Unit, Dermatology, Endocrinology and the Institute of Bone and Joint Research at the University of Sydney. Dr Jackson works closely with the clinicians and co-supervises PhD students from those departments. These strong links ensure that human specimens are readily available for his research. Additionally, they ensure that his research is patient-orientated with the ultimate aim of solving health issues related to arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory skin conditions.

The strategies used for Dr Jackson’s research has allowed it to become true bench to bedside translational research. After making the original discovery that activated protein C (APC) heals wounds, Dr Jackson was given the opportunity to develop the concept with an NHMRC Development Grant (#25388, Activated protein C to promote wound healing, 2003-5). Together with Dr Meilang Xue, he undertook extensive basic laboratory studies, including pre-clinical animal studies to obtain proof-of-concept. With help from his clinical colleagues at RNSH, he progressed the work to pilot human clinical trials in diabetic chronic wounds. With clinical collaborations firmly established and positive results from pilot studies showing that APC has strong potential to heal human chronic wounds, A randomised double-blind controlled clinical trial will shortly begin to test the efficacy of an APC variant to treat diabetic chronic leg ulcers, funded by NHMRC 1032549 grant and commercial sponsorship.