Ivan Jozic
Research Associate Professor, Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery
Miller School of Medicine
i.jozic@miami.edu
A major focus of Ivan Jozic's lab is understanding cutaneous wound repair and the molecular mechanisms that underpin chronic wounds (such as diabetic foot and venous leg ulcers). To identify actionable biomarkers and targets, him and his team apply high resolution proteomic and lipidomic workflows to map spatiotemporal signatures across distinct wound microenvironments. In parallel, they develop and optimize topical hydrogel platforms to enhance wound healing by improving local delivery and retention of therapeutic cargo, enabling tunable release kinetics, and supporting regenerative processes across preclinical models, including porcine wounds. This integrated discovery and biomaterials platform is also used to understand epidermal renewal, age related decline in regenerative capacity, and dysregulated remodeling in inflammatory skin diseases. His lab integrates clinically relevant human skin specimens obtained through clinical collaborations with rigorous translational models, especially porcine wound platforms that closely mirror human skin. Using these porcine models, they evaluate efficacy of therapeutics, advanced dressings, and antimicrobial strategies for external sponsors, including wounds infected with bacterial pathogens. Studies often generate sponsor‑ready feasibility packages using quantitative microbiology and histology, alongside wound closure outcomes. This combined discovery‑to‑validation pipeline links mechanistic signatures to clinically meaningful endpoints, accelerating development of improved diagnostics and therapies for patients with acute and chronic cutaneous injury.
Keywords: chronic wounds, proteomics, lipidomics, hydrogel therapeutics, skin regeneration, antimicrobial strategies, porcine models
