Home Funded Projects Using a patient's own stem cells to treat keloid scars
Achieving Sustainable Health
Using a patient's own stem cells to treat keloid scars
Early studies show fat-derived stem cells safely shrink keloid scars over three months — a promising alternative to steroids.
Keloids are common and stubborn among African patients, yet almost nothing is known about them here. This study built the first Ugandan evidence base — and tested a new cell therapy.
The challenge
Keloids — thick, raised scars — are among the most common and severe skin conditions affecting Black African populations, yet they respond poorly to existing treatments and recur often.
Almost all medical knowledge about them is based on studies of Caucasian patients, and Uganda had no data at all on how prevalent keloids are, or how they behave here.
The approach
The team set out to build that missing baseline — describing the prevalence, the clinical and tissue-level characteristics of keloids in an African population, and why patients seek or delay care.
On that foundation they tested a new therapy: adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction — stem cells drawn from the patient's own fat — assessing cell yield, viability and how patients responded.
Early studies show the patient's own stem cells are safe, and shrink keloid scars over three months.
Results & impact
Early findings show the stem-cell approach is safe and shrinks keloid scars over a three-month period, pointing to a worthy alternative to the steroids in current use.
The project has described keloid characteristics and prevalence among Africans for the first time and published a systematic review of stem-cell therapy — giving a neglected disease its first solid evidence base.
This research was funded by the Government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund — one of a growing directory of projects turning national investment into real-world results.
Browse all projects