Dr. O’Brien-Coon has been awarded an R01 grant for the project titled, “Molecular mechanisms of hormone-mediated sex differences in wound healing.”
Wound healing is a major clinical problem affecting millions of patients. Preliminary clinical and large animal data show that testosterone impairs tissue repair while estrogen improves it, yet the mechanisms of these effects are poorly understood. This study seeks to transform current concepts of how testosterone and estradiol modulate soft tissue repair with the dual aim of defining hormone-induced alterations in the wound immune environment that drive regenerative versus fibrotic responses and developing potential new therapeutic approaches.
Devin O’Brien-Coon, MD, MSE
Associate Surgeon, Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Fellowship Director, BWH Complex Gender & Microsurgery Program
Clinical Director and Surgical Co-Director, Brigham Center for Transgender Health
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. O’Brien directs a basic science lab focusing on cutaneous repair, fibrosis and regeneration, as well as sex hormone-mediated control of wound healing and scarring. He is also interested in biomedical innovation and has invented and successfully translated two FDA-approved medical devices (a bioresorbable implant and a 3D ultrasound system) to clinical use.
Before joining the Brigham, Dr. O’Brien served as the founding chief medical director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health, where he developed a multidisciplinary service line across eight departments that became one of the largest academic programs in the U.S. He is recognized as a leader in genitourinary salvage procedures and is frequently referred secondary revision cases. He initiated and directed the Johns Hopkins Complex Gender & Microsurgery Fellowship. He will serve as inaugural clinical and surgical director of the new Brigham Center for Transgender Health.
His primary clinical areas are facial gender surgery, facial aesthetic surgery, genital gender-affirming surgery and genital/pelvic reconstruction for revision or oncologic patients.
Dr. O’Brien attended college and medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and holds a master’s in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He completed integrated plastic surgery training at the Johns Hopkins/UMD Shock Trauma Center program and is board certified in plastic and reconstructive surgery.
