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.
Functional coagulation and platelet assays in microsurgery
Eric Wang MD
2015
University of California, San Francisco
Pilot Research Grant
General Reconstructive, Microsurgery
Flap loss due to undetected thrombophilia is an uncommon, yet relatively constant complication of microsurgical reconstruction. Many microsurgeons believe that these devastating complications are unavoidable, as the first clinical presentation of a hereditary or acquired hypercoagulability is frequently microvascular pedicle thrombosis. Screening tests are not useful. Functional point of care coagulation assays, in the form of thromboelastometry (TEM) and multielectrode platelet aggregometry (MEA), are gaining clinical acceptance by other surgical specialties as a novel means to measure coagulation. In contrast to the specificity but poor sensitivity of traditional laboratory workup, these rapid assays utilize whole blood to give a reflection of global in vivo activity. The goal of this pilot study is to evaluate their innovative application to microsurgery. In other settings, including trauma, orthopaedics, and cardiac surgery, TEM and MEA has been shown to detect hypercoagulability and can be used for thromboprophylaxis risk stratification and tailoring antiplatelet therapy. Based on preliminary data and extensive institutional experience with these techniques, we propose a prospective cross-sectional study to (1) evaluate the efficacy of TEM for preoperative diagnosis of hypercoagulability and (2) to determine if postoperative response to a standard anticoagulant and antiplatelet regimen measured by TEM and MEA is reflective of therapeutic efficacy. A better means of measuring transient hypercoagulability would also give our specialty an improved understanding of ideal flap timing and monitoring duration.
Coagulation and platelet function measurement with thromboelastometry and multielectrode platelet aggregometry offers the ability to rapidly measure occult hypercoagulability. These methods have not been fully explored for use in microsurgical decision-making. In clinical practice, these methods have the potential to significantly reduce the burden of microsurgical complications through preoperative risk stratification and markedly change the paradigm of postoperative anticoagulation.
Eric Wang is currently a third-year resident in the combined (7-year) program in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCSF. In the 2015-2016 academic year, he is entering a designated research year. He will complete a year of translational and clinical research in microsurgical outcomes with additional clinical research design and statistics coursework through the Training in Clinical Research program through the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He is interested in improving reconstructive outcomes and safety by adapting new diagnostic technologies for use in plastic surgery.