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.

A Novel Approach For Improving Flap Tolerance TO Ischemia H2S

Principal Investigator
Jason Spector MD

Year
2007

Institution
University of Pittsburgh

Funding Mechanism
Basic Research Grant

Focus Area
General Reconstructive

Abstract
Despite the ubiquity of microvascular free tissue transfer, a major limitation and source of morbidity in these procedures is related to reperfusion injury of the transferred tissue. Currently, the only accepted way to minimize ischemic injury is by rapid re-establishment of blood flow within the flap. Although some authors have reported improved tolerance to ischemia by rapidly cooling the flap during the ischemic interval, this practice is not universally accepted. Even the swiftest of microsurgical transfers exposes the flap to nearly one hour of ischemia time. Although the flap tissues generally "tolerate" this ischemic interval, even this limited period contributes to significant post-operative edema, especially in the most ischemia-sensitive tissues such as muscle and intestine. In more difficulty microsurgical transfers, longer periods of ischemia time may result in significant reperfusion injury ultimately leading to partial flap loss or flap failure. We propose a unique approach to significantly improving flap tolerance to ischemia by inducing a "suspended animation" like state within the flap tissue by exposure to H2S, which can bind to cytochrome c oxidase and reversibly interrupt the process of oxidative phosphorylation. If we are successful in this endeavor then we will be able to significantly reduce the morbidity associated with ischemia reperfusion injury. Furthermore, this technique of cytoprotection may be applied beyond the field of microsurgery into other medical disciplines where ischemia reperfusion injury remains a significant obstacle to progress (e.g. transplant surgery, aneurysm repair, etc.).

Biography
Dr. Jason Spector is a nationally recognized clinician, researcher and educator. He holds two patents, and has been an integral part several Cornell University-Weill Cornell Medical College translational research teams. He participates in the NIH and Howard Hughes Medical Institute sponsored Clinical Summer Immersion for Biomedical Engineering Program, mentoring engineering doctoral students. Since 2007, he has been a lecturer at Cornell University's Biomedical Engineering Science and Technology course, "Approaches to Problems in Human Needs." Dr. Spector serves as an Ad-Hoc reviewer for six prestigious medical journals, and has presented at national and international medical meetings. He recently served as Moderator of the Emerging Technologies Section, at the American Surgical Congress in 2011.