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.
Osteoclast Mediated Resorption of Engineered Human Bone
Justine Lee MD, PhD, FACS
2014
The Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles
PSRC/PSF Combined Pilot Research Grant
Cranio / Maxillofacial / Head and Neck
Large defects in the craniofacial skeleton result in functional deficits requiring extensive reconstructive
surgery. Although bone grafting is the preferred means for osseous reconstruction, the major limiting factor
is the finite quantity of bone that can be harvested from a patient. Current alternatives to autologous bone
such as titanium, methylmethacrylate, demineralized bone matrix, and allografts are inherently inferior to
autologous bone in that true bone healing and integration into the human body are largely absent. Clearly,
the ideal scenario to address quantity, donor site morbidity, and vascularity would be to achieve engineered
human bone. One of the major challenges facing engineering utilizable, autologous human bone involves
the ability for the engineered quantity of bone to withstand resorption over time. In this proposal, we
hypothesize that: 1. Resorption of engineered human bone is directly related to recruitment of osteoclasts to
the site of bone formation, 2. Culturing of engineered human bone with human osteoclasts results in
resorption of bone, 3. Downregulation of osteoclast activity will maximize the longevity of engineered bone.
We aim to investigate the interactions between engineered human bone and human osteoclasts in vitro by:
1. Generating a laboratory model to mimic the interplay between engineered bone and the host
microenvironment with a focus on the cells responsible for resorption, the osteoclasts. 2. Characterizing the
response of the host osteoclasts to osteogenic growth factors in current clinical use (bone morphogenetic
protein-2). 3. Modulating signals from engineered bone to decrease the resorptive response from host
organisms. We expect that these basic studies will impact the practice of plastic surgery by addressing one
important obstacle of tissue engineering, thereby bringing the field closer to clinically applicable human bone.
Justine C. Lee, MD, PhD, FACS is the Bernard G. Sarnat Endowed Chair in Craniofacial Biology and Associate Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Clinically, Dr. Lee is a craniofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon who developed the facial gender affirmation surgery program at UCLA. Academically, Dr. Lee’s basic research program is focused on regenerative technologies for skeletal defects and her clinical research program is dedicated to understanding and improving outcomes of craniofacial reconstruction. Her research is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the Jean Perkins Foundation, the Aramont Foundation, and the Bernard G. Sarnat Endowment.