Why Is Research So Important In Shriners Hospitals?
Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children have been involved in research since the 1920s, but in the early 1960s the Shrine aggressively entered the structured research field and began earmarking funds for research projects. Since that time, Shriners Hospitals have been at the vanguard of research, achieving significant progress in orthopedic and burn treatment. In 1990 alone, $18.5 million has been allocated for structured research efforts. One of the better-known achievements of Shriners Hospitals research is the cultured skin developed by the Boston Burns Institute in connection with the Harvard Medical School. Researchers developed a method of “growing” skin from a tiny sample of a burn patient’s own skin. In a celebrated 1983 case, this breakthrough enabled the Burns Institute to save the lives of two boys who were burned over 97 percent of their body surface, marking the first time a cultured organ had ever been used in a life-saving situation, as well as the first time any human
