The Plastic Surgery Foundation
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Grants We Funded

Grant applicants for the 2023 cycle requested a total of nearly $4 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated nearly 140 grant applications on the following topics:

The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $1 million dollars to support nearly 30 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.

Economic analysis of hand transplantation

Principal Investigator
Kevin Chung MD, MS

Year
2009

Institution
The Regents of the University of Michigan

Funding Mechanism
National Endowment for Plastic Surgery Grant

Focus Area
Composite Tissue Allotransplantation, Hand or Upper Extremity

Abstract
Hand transplantation is the next frontier in plastic surgery. To date, 46 hand transplantations have been performed around the world, with 5 in the US. The promising long-term results of the US procedures have several centers contemplating starting hand transplantation programs. In an era of fiscal constraints on the healthcare system, new innovations will be scrutinized not only on their quality of life enhancements, but also on their costs. Despite the diverging ethical opinions regarding hand transplantation, a formal decision analysis has never been performed. In addition, the economic impact of this operation has never been addressed. The specific aims of this study are: (1) to perform a decision analysis, using various perspectives (plastic surgeons, hand therapists and patients) to assess the utility of hand transplantation, prosthesis and amputation, (2) to compare the utilities assigned by surgeons, hand therapists and patients, and (3) to conduct a cost-utility analysis of comparing hand transplantation and prosthesis.

Biography
First Place Clinical Research Senior Category - Dr Kevin C. Chung is a hand and upper extremity surgeon who is Professor of Surgery and an Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs at the University of Michigan Medical School. He is a Director for the American Board of Plastic Surgery and serves as a board member for ASPS/PSEF. He is the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Hand Surgery and is the Section Editor on Outcomes Research for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.