Our Mission
To improve the lives of people living with skin and musculoskeletal diseases through rigorous science and compassion.
Our Research
Heterotopic ossification (HO) following amputation, musculoskeletal injuries, burns, deep surgeries, and trauma severely debilitates patients by restricting range of motion and causing pain. Burn injuries cost over $500 million annually and hip replacements cost over $5 billion dollars. Beyond these initial expenses, HO leads to hospital admissions and secondary operations incurring significant costs. Insights from related hyper-proliferative disorders such as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and explorations down associated pathways have uncovered agents in HO pathways.
Our Lab
Benjamin Levi, M.D.
Principal Investigator
Directed by Dr. Benjamin Levi, the Levi Lab and Center for Organogenesis, Regeneration, and Trauma is located in the NL8 building on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus. On the same floor, the laboratory offices for both Dr. Levi and lab members can be found in the corners of the research building. The 1500 sf state-of-the-art lab attends to an extensive scope and associated techniques and relies on invaluable, nearby resources such as:
Collaboration Spaces
Lab Capacities
Center of Excellence Scaling Leadership
Professional Development
Learning Environment
Community Service Events
- VA Bingo
- Race Benefiting Food Gathers
- Ronald McDonald House
Strategic Partnerships
- IFOPA
- Tower Laboratory
- James Laboratory (Johns Hopkins University)
- S-COIN
Rigor and Compliance
Diversity
Awards
Chase Pagani, Graduate Student Researcher - Plastic Surgery Research Council Peter J. Gingrass Award
Dr. Neda Vishlaghi - 2023 Spring Travel Award
Dr. Levi appointed as Adjunct Associate Professor at Uniformed Services University (USUHS)
Dr. Levi awarded ACS Clowes Award
Charles Hwang, BS of Levi Lab awarded medical school Dean's Award for Research Excellence
Dr. Levi awarded AAS Plastic Surgery Young Investigator Award
Ashish Chowdary, Medical Student - PSRC Best Paper - August 2023
Dr. Levi Awarded the ASBMR Fuller Albright Award
Dr. Levi awarded ASCI Young Investigator Award
Shawn Loder, BS of Levi Lab awarded medical school Dean's Award for Research Excellence
Dr. Levi awarded PSF Bernard G Sarnat Excellence in Grant Writing Award
Dr. Rober Tower - Assistant Professor: ASBMR 2023 Faculty Travel Grant
Levi Laboratory awarded 2 new DOD Grants to tackle tendon injury and heterotopic ossification
Shailesh Agarwal, MD of the Levi Lab awarded Moses Gunn Crudap Award
Jonathan Peterson, BS of Levi Lab awarded medical school Dean's Award for Research Excellence
Dr. Levi awarded Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award
Dr. Heeseog Kang - Senior Research Scientist: ASBMR 2023 Faculty Travel Grant
Amy Strong, MD, PhD of the Levi Laboratory Awarded NIH Surgical Oncology T32 Award
Casey Kraft, BS of Levi Lab awarded medical school Graduation with Distinction in Research Award
Dr. Levi awarded American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Research & Education Foundation Scholarship
News
First annual CORT Scientific Retreat
The first Center for Organogenesis, Regeneration and Trauma (CORT) Scientific Retreat was hosted on Friday, March 1st, 2024, on the University of...
North Campus Cleanup – “Clean communities, healthy citizens.”
We love to keep our community clean! Our lab tackled cleaning up around our North Campus area at UT Southwestern Medical Center. We take our weekly...
Spotlight Article: Tourniquet-induced ischemia creates increased risk of organ dysfunction and mortality following delayed limb amputation
The Levi laboratory is proud to present a publication in the Journal of Injury entitled “Tourniquet-induced ischemia creates increased risk of organ...
Chase Pagani, MD/PhD student, selected as honorary captain of FC Dallas
Chase Pagani, MD/PhD student, was selected as the honorary captain of the FC Dallas Soccer game on March 2nd against CF Montreal. The University of...
Captain Indestructible: Dallas firefighter, rises from the ashes and returns to job he loves
Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Chris Gadomski suffered severe burns and broken legs in a massive gas explosion in Oak Cliff in September 2021. With the...
Spotlight Article: Macrophage Derived TGF-β Regulates HO Formation
The Levi laboratory is proud to present a publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) Insights entitled “Macrophage TGF-β signaling...
Military Health System Research Symposium – August 13 – 15 2023
The Military Health Science Research Symposium is an annual conference that focuses on the latest technologies and research focused on treating...
American Burn Association Meeting 2023
As the newest addition to the growing scientific literature on heterotopic ossification, the Levi Laboratory is proud to announce a publication...
First annual CORT Scientific Retreat
The first Center for Organogenesis, Regeneration and Trauma (CORT) Scientific Retreat was hosted on Friday, March 1st, 2024, on the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center campus. Attendance was nearly standing room only with plenaries by speakers from...
Support Our Research
Burn/trauma and regenerative medicine researchers in plastic surgery seek to prevent the formation of bones in abnormal locations. Gifts help alleviate this condition affecting burn, auto accident, orthopaedic surgery and blast injury patients by providing additional resources to employ state of the art technologies, recruit talented researchers, and disseminate our scientific findings widely.