Wound Healing, Fibrosis, and the Myofibroblast

Giulio Gabbiani has obtained an MD degree at the University of Pavia (Italy) and a PhD degree at the University of Montreal (Canada). He has been Research Associate at the Department of Pathology of Harvard Medical School, Professor at the Department of Pathology and Immunology of the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where he is now Emeritus Professor. He has been Secretary and President of the European Cytoskeleton Forum, Secretary and Chairman of the European Vascular Biology Association, Secretary of the European Tissue Repair Society. He has received several distinctions including a degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and from the University of Limoges (France). Giulio Gabbiani’s interests span from the biology of the myofibroblast (which he discovered in 1971), to mechanisms of fibrosis development and to the biology of arterial smooth muscle cell including its involvement in atherosclerosis. Matteo Coen MD, MD-PhD has obtained a doctorate in medicine (MD), followed by a specialization in vascular surgery at the University of Ferrara (Italy) and a doctorate in medical sciences (“MD-PhD”) at the Faculty of Medicine of Geneva. He has then joined the Service of General Internal Medicine of the University Hospitals of Geneva, where he is actually chief resident, and has attained a specialization in internal medicine. Matteo Coen has also a keen interest in medical education. Alongside his clinical work and research activities in internal medicine, he is a member of the Unit of Development and Research in Medical Education (UDREM) of the University of Geneva, where he participates in various teaching and research projects. Fabio Zampieri has a PhD in Philosophy of Science from the University of Padova (Italy), and PhD in History of Medicine from the University of Geneva (Switzerland). He is is actually professor of History of Medicine at the University of Padova. He teaches human sciences, history of medicine, and bioethics to medicine students. His fields of research ranges from the history of prehistoric medicine to contemporary biomedical sciences. He is particularly interested in the history of cardiology and pathology, as well as in the impact of Darwian concepts on medical sciences. He is a renowned expert on the figure of Giovanni Battista Morgagni and of Evolutionary Medicine.

• 1. Introduction2. Fibrous Tissue, Fibrosis and the Fibroblast3. Wound healing and Wound Contraction4. Fibrotic Diseases5. The Myofibroblast: Role in Fibrosis Development6. Conclusions and Perspectives7. Bibliography