Grants Funded
Grant applicants for the 2024 cycle requested a total of nearly $3 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated more than 100 grant applications on the following topics:
The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $650,000 dollars to support more than 20 plastic surgery research proposals.
ASPS/PSF leadership is committed to continuing to provide high levels of investigator-initiated research support to ensure that plastic surgeons have the needed research resources to be pioneers and innovators in advancing the practice of medicine.
Research Abstracts
Search The PSF database to have easy access to full-text grant abstracts from past PSF-funded research projects 2003 to present. All abstracts are the work of the Principal Investigators and were retrieved from their PSF grant applications. Several different filters may be applied to locate abstracts specific to a particular focus area or PSF funding mechanism.
Particulate Bone for Secondary Inlay Cranioplasty
Arin Greene MD
2011
Children's Hospital Boston
Repair of calvarial defects in children is difficult. Autologous bone is limited and alloplastic substances are not advocated because they can become unstable or inhibit cranial growth. Although split cranial bone is the preferred material for inlay cranioplasty in children, it cannot be harvested in patients less than six years of age because of the lack of a diploic space. Particulate bone graft, consisting of small corticocancellous bone pieces harvested with a hand-driven brace and bit, can be obtained from the cranium without a diploic space. We previously have shown that this material heals full-thickness cranial defects experimentally and clinically when placed over normal dura (primary cranioplasty). However, the ability of particulate graft to heal inlay defects with scarred dura (secondary cranioplasty) has not been studied. Particulate graft may be less effective when used over an injured area (e.g., infection, prior failed cranioplasty), compared to being applied over normal dura. The specific aim for this project is: Aim: To determine whether particulate bone graft heals secondary inlay cranioplasty defects. Using a leporid model, critical-size calvarial defects will be created and treated with (1) no implant for 32 weeks, (2) particulate bone for 32 weeks, (3) no implant for 16 weeks followed by particulate bone over the scarred site for 16 weeks. Animals will undergo CT to determine ossification. The results of this study will be immediately translatable to patient care. If particulate graft can heal defects with fibrotic periosteum and dura, it would become the first-line technique for secondary cranioplasty in young children.
Dr. Greene’s research background is in the field of angiogenesis. He trained in the Harvard Combined Plastic Surgery Program and then completed a fellowship in Craniofacial/Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston. His basic science and clinical research is focused on vascular anomalies, lymphedema, and cranioplasty.