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.
Gene Expression Analysis of Dupuytren's Disease: The Role of Maf-B
Principal Investigator
James Chang MD
James Chang MD
Year
2005
2005
Institution
Stanford University
Stanford University
Funding Mechanism
Basic Research Grant
Basic Research Grant
Focus Area
Other
Other
Abstract
Dupuytren's disease (DD) is a common problem encountered by the hand and plastic surgeon. It is characterized by nodular fibroblastic proliferation of the palmar fascia leading to contracture of the hand. The pathogenesis of DD remains unclear, but studies have shown that DD is more common in males of northern European ancestry, suggesting a genetic link. Recent work in our laboratory using DNA microarray analysis has identified upregulation of known genes including the TGF-Beta family. In addition, microarray analysis has identified upregulation of a novel gene, musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma B [MafB], in diseased cords taken from DD patients. MafB is a transcription factor represented in a class of basic leucine zipper transcription factors. The Maloncogene was initially identified in an oncogenic avian retrovirus that induces musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcomas in vivo and also cellular transformation of fibroblasts in chicken embryos in vitro. While the function of MafB is not fully known, its purported role in initiating cellular transformation of fibroblasts makes MafB upregulation in Dupuytren's cords a novel mechanism. The purpose of the present study is to confirm and investigate the role of MafB in Dupuytren's disease.
Dupuytren's disease (DD) is a common problem encountered by the hand and plastic surgeon. It is characterized by nodular fibroblastic proliferation of the palmar fascia leading to contracture of the hand. The pathogenesis of DD remains unclear, but studies have shown that DD is more common in males of northern European ancestry, suggesting a genetic link. Recent work in our laboratory using DNA microarray analysis has identified upregulation of known genes including the TGF-Beta family. In addition, microarray analysis has identified upregulation of a novel gene, musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma B [MafB], in diseased cords taken from DD patients. MafB is a transcription factor represented in a class of basic leucine zipper transcription factors. The Maloncogene was initially identified in an oncogenic avian retrovirus that induces musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcomas in vivo and also cellular transformation of fibroblasts in chicken embryos in vitro. While the function of MafB is not fully known, its purported role in initiating cellular transformation of fibroblasts makes MafB upregulation in Dupuytren's cords a novel mechanism. The purpose of the present study is to confirm and investigate the role of MafB in Dupuytren's disease.
Biography
Dr. James Chang is currently Professor and Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Chang graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with joint degrees in Biology and Economics. He spent a year as a lecturer in English at the Beijing University of Science and Technology in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Following this, he graduated from Yale Medical School with Alpha Omega Alpha and Cum Laude honors. From 1991 to 1993, he was a Sarnoff Laboratory Research Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He then completed a residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Chang was a Clinical Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery and the Hand & Microsurgery Fellow at U.C.L.A. Medical Center from 1999-2000. He is currently Professor of Plastic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also an Attending Surgeon at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where he serves as Director of the Plastic and Hand Surgery Laboratory. His basic science research interests include modulation of Transforming Growth Factor-Beta in scarless flexor tendon wound healing and tissue engineered flexor tendon grafts for hand reconstruction. He has expertise in molecular biology and tissue engineering techniques and their applications to plastic and hand surgery research. Dr. Chang is the recipient of numerous grants including two recent multi-year Federal Merit Review Awards on "Tissue Engineered Flexor Tendon Grafts for Extremity Reconstruction" and "Optimization of Bioengineered Tendons Using Bioreactors and Stem Cells". Dr. Chang is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Hand Surgery and an Associate Editor for the journals, Journal of Hand Surgery, Annals of Plastic Surgery, Hand, and Microsurgery. He was the Royal College of Surgeons Foundation traveling fellow and was awarded the 2006 Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellowship by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. He is Research Director for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and manages the grant portfolio and programs of this national organization. He is a member of the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee of the ACGME. Dr. Chang's main surgical interests are in reconstructive surgery of the hand and extremities including microsurgical reconstruction. He also has interest in pediatric hand and microsurgery, post-oncologic head and neck reconstruction, and lower extremity reconstruction.
Dr. James Chang is currently Professor and Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Chang graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with joint degrees in Biology and Economics. He spent a year as a lecturer in English at the Beijing University of Science and Technology in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Following this, he graduated from Yale Medical School with Alpha Omega Alpha and Cum Laude honors. From 1991 to 1993, he was a Sarnoff Laboratory Research Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He then completed a residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Chang was a Clinical Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery and the Hand & Microsurgery Fellow at U.C.L.A. Medical Center from 1999-2000. He is currently Professor of Plastic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also an Attending Surgeon at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where he serves as Director of the Plastic and Hand Surgery Laboratory. His basic science research interests include modulation of Transforming Growth Factor-Beta in scarless flexor tendon wound healing and tissue engineered flexor tendon grafts for hand reconstruction. He has expertise in molecular biology and tissue engineering techniques and their applications to plastic and hand surgery research. Dr. Chang is the recipient of numerous grants including two recent multi-year Federal Merit Review Awards on "Tissue Engineered Flexor Tendon Grafts for Extremity Reconstruction" and "Optimization of Bioengineered Tendons Using Bioreactors and Stem Cells". Dr. Chang is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Hand Surgery and an Associate Editor for the journals, Journal of Hand Surgery, Annals of Plastic Surgery, Hand, and Microsurgery. He was the Royal College of Surgeons Foundation traveling fellow and was awarded the 2006 Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellowship by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. He is Research Director for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and manages the grant portfolio and programs of this national organization. He is a member of the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee of the ACGME. Dr. Chang's main surgical interests are in reconstructive surgery of the hand and extremities including microsurgical reconstruction. He also has interest in pediatric hand and microsurgery, post-oncologic head and neck reconstruction, and lower extremity reconstruction.