Dec. 2, 2025
Ronald Strang’s Muscle Memories
A Marine veteran reflects on the reconstructive surgery that restored his mobility and was made possible by researchers at Pitt.
A vet reflects on the regenerative treatment that restored his strength and confidence
By Anita Srikameswaran
Nearly 16 years ago, then-Sgt. Strang was leading a squad of United States Marines on a routine foot patrol through a village in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded and destroyed most of the muscle in his left thigh. After multiple surgeries, he still walked with a cane. He volunteered for a U.S. Department of Defense–sponsored trial at Pitt to try to improve his mobility—and his job prospects.
In 2011, J. Peter Rubin, UPMC Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and department chair of plastic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, surgically excised scar tissue from Strang’s disfigured thigh. He then placed into the void a sheet of extracellular matrix, or ECM, developed by regenerative medicine researcher Stephen Badylak’s team at Pitt’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. As the biomaterial broke down, it released natural signaling molecules that promoted new muscle and blood vessel growth. Soon after the operation, Strang could stand, walk and run again.
In Nature Regenerative Medicine in 2016, a study team reported that all 13 participants, including Strang, experienced measurable improvements in muscle bulk, strength, range of motion and function.
Badylak, now emeritus professor of surgery at Pitt School of Medicine, and his team have since developed an ECM powder and a novel, minimally invasive form of the compound that is drawn into a syringe as a liquid and then solidifies after injection into the body. The hydrogel will soon be tested by Warrendale, Pennsylvania-based ECM Therapeutics, where Badylak is executive chief science officer.
Rubin is leading a study that uses a patient’s own fat cells to treat facial disfigurements and another that uses the cells to repair burn injuries.
Strang, now a lieutenant in the police department at the VA Pittsburgh Health System, reflected on his experience.
“That first time getting a full gait, a full run, to feel that wind again—it was probably the first time since all of this occurred that I felt more like myself. Without the research study and the growth of my thigh muscle, I wouldn’t have been able to pass the physical fitness test [for my current job]. ”
How did the blast injury change your life?
My left leg couldn’t bend, and I didn’t have the strength to kick forward, so I had a pretty heavy limp. I couldn’t extend my leg because that muscle was gone. If anything bumped me, my knee would just buckle. I got used to falling a lot. I wasn’t able to run at all.
There were a few jobs I applied for that were less physically demanding but, after going through the interview, they would say, “We love you, you’re great, you’re overqualified, you fit the position. But we don’t feel like you’re able to physically adapt to the standards that we have for this job.”
Did the ECM treatment help?
That first time getting a full gait, a full run, to feel that wind again—it was probably the first time since all of this occurred that I felt more like myself. Without the research study and the growth of my thigh muscle, I wouldn’t have been able to pass the physical fitness test [for my current job]. One thing I like about my job is speaking with other veterans. Even if they aren’t injured, there’s PTSD and a lot of things where I can build rapport and talk to them and help them out. And they help me out doing the same thing.
Did you enjoy seeing the researchers again?
It is cool to hear what they’re working on now. It took a lot of work just to get this little piece of tissue that they could implant [in 2013-14]. It’s been great to hear them talking about how [the technique] is so much better: “We can just stick it in a needle and put it in people.” That’s only taken 10 years. It’s wild to see what the future holds and how much more they can do.