Assistant Professor
Plastic Surgery
Department: Surgery
Email: dravnic@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Phone: 717-531-8952
Research Interests:
Vasculature, autologous vascularized engineered tissue, tissue engineering, reconstructive surgery
Systems/Organs:
breast, bone, others
Cell/Cellular compartments:
adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and their differentiated progenies, small RNAs
Signaling pathways:
VEGFR, Angiopoietin/TIE receptor, Eph receptor, PDGFR signal transduction,
PI3K, Ras/MAP kinase
Diseases/Conditions:
Breast cancer, hernia, tissue repair;
Focus Groups: Vasculature; Bioengineering;
Research description: Translational/Regenerative
Microvascular development, integration, and function; creation of autologous vascularized engineered tissue for microsurgical implantation and immediate reperfusion; scaffold fabrication, 3D bioprinting assembly of cells/scaffolds/proteins. The cross-collaborative environment has led to additional projects in tissue repair (e.g. hernia, bone) and the investigation of small RNAs for both clinical implementation and integration into tissue engineering approaches.
Technical expertise: isolation and differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) into multiple cell lines; three-dimension (3D) culture of ADSCs and recombining them with endothelial cells derived from the same adipose fraction in vitro; isolation of various proteins and molecules from adipose tissue and using them in scaffold fabrication; bioinformatics;
Selected Publications:
- Ravnic DJ, Galiano RD, Bodavula V, Friedman DW, Flores RL. Diagnosis and localization of flexor tendon injuries by surgeon-performed ultrasound: A cadaveric study. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2011 Feb; 64(2):234-9. PMID: 20630817.
- Ravnic DJ, Konerding MA, Huss HT, Wolloscheck T, Pratt JP, Mentzer SJ. Murine micro video endoscopy of the colonic microcirculation. J Surg Res. 2007 Sep; 142(1):97-103. PMID: 17612562; PMCID: PMC1986667.
- Konerding MA, Turhan A, Ravnic DJ, Lin M, Fuchs C, Secomb TW, Tsuda A, Mentzer SJ. Inflammation-induced intussusceptive angiogenesis in murine colitis. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2010 May; 293(5):849-57. PMID: 20225210; PMCID: PMC3045768.
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