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.
Prevention of Radiation Skin Fibrosis by K/O of MMP-2, -9
Phuong Nguyen MD
2008
New York University Medical Center
Basic Research Grant
Wounds/Scar
The identification of a new molecular target to prevent radiation induced skin fibrosis and injury may lead to an increased understanding of the fibrosis mechanisms occurring after ionizing radiation therapy and the development of novel therapeutics against this morbidity. We propose that matrix metalloproteinases (specifically, MMP-2 and MMP-9) provide such a target. MMPs have been shown to increase in radiation-induced dermal injury and are integral to the regulation of the TGF-b fibrotic pathway. We hypothesize that knockout of this gene will therefore result in radioprotection.
Dr. Nguyen is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Director of Adult Craniofacial Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He completed his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, followed by full general surgery training at the New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital in New York City where he was elected as the Academic Chief Resident. Following this, he completed a plastic surgery residency at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center working with famed craniofacial surgeon Dr. Henry Kawamoto, and subsequently trained at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada in pediatric craniofacial surgery. He is active in basic science and clinical research. He is board certified in both general surgery and plastic surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Nguyen is 1st generation Vietnamese, born in an Indonesian refugee camp following the Vietnam War. His family immigrated to the U.S. on a church sponsorship, which allowed him access to higher education. He is highly active in international mission work, focusing on cleft and craniofacial reconstruction. He frequently volunteers with many humanitarian organizations and recently served as the Operation Smile International Scholar. He has volunteered in Vietnam, Nepal, India, Peru, Guatemala, and the Philippines amongst others.