Each year more than 230,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and approximately 180,000 undergo mastectomies. Nicholas Pashos, 28, a PhD candidate in the Tulane University interdisciplinary bioinnovation program, is working on a project that he hopes will one day transform breast reconstruction surgery.
He invented an experimental graft that plastic surgeons may use to regenerate a nipple and areola for complete breast restoration after cancer treatment.
Pashos has won a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and $25,000 from the New Orleans BioInnovation Center to develop his research. His company, BioAesthetics, will compete next month as a finalist in the Tulane Business Model Competition.
