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.
Outcomes in Surgical Management of Adolescent Breast Disorders
Brian Labow MD
2011
Children's Hospital Boston
The broad goal of this project is to measure treatment outcomes in adolescent patients with benign breast disorders such as macromastia, gynecomastia, breast asymmetry, and tuberous breast. These disorders are common in adolescent males and females and are a significant source of morbidity and psychological distress. There are limited outcome data on adolescents with benign breast disorders and no prospective studies have been conducted in this population. As a result, there are no evidence-based treatment guidelines for pediatricians and plastic surgeons. The described study is the first of its kind to prospectively study long-term functional and psychosocial outcomes following treatment of male and female adolescents with benign breast disorders. Benign breast disorder patients enrolled in the study will complete validated questionnaires regarding self-esteem, quality of life, and eating attitudes prior to and at several time points following surgical treatment. Females with macromastia will complete an additional survey on breast symptoms. A control group of healthy male and female adolescents will also complete the surveys at similar timepoints. The control group will complete an additional survey at baseline to assess breast and/or chest symptoms. This study will provide new insight into these common problems in adolescents and will provide the foundation for studying long-term outcomes in this population. This study will ultimately contribute to the development of evidence-based treatment algorithms to optimize patient care.
Dr. Brian Labow is a pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgeon in the Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. His primary professional activities include clinical practice, translational investigation, and resident education. An overarching theme that links Dr. Labow’s clinical and research activities is the treatment of benign adolescent breast disorders. He founded the Adolescent Breast Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, a service that integrates and coordinates care across multiple disciplines including plastic surgery, adolescent medicine, endocrinology and general surgery. The Center’s registry, of roughly 1300 patients followed longitudinally, provides invaluable information in assessing clinical outcomes and establishing new treatment guidelines. We are now striving to better understand long term surgical outcomes in this population.