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.
Delivery of miR through Biodegradable Scaffolds
Michael Ogilvie MD, MBA
2014
Duke University Medical Center
Pilot Research Grant
Tissue Engineering
Dermal scarring affects more than 80 million people worldwide annually. Thermal blast injuries constitute 5 to 20% of military casualties. Over 4.4 million people are injured in motor vehicle accidents and over 2.4 million patients are burned. In severe burns, more than 40% patients develop hypertrophic scar contractures (HSc). HSc develop over 6 months and costs millions of dollars per year.
Severe burn injuries are typically treated using collagen-based, degradable, bioengineered skin equivalents (BSE). Although BSE have been used in the clinic for ~30 years, current BSE lack the appropriate mechanical properties and degradation rates to mitigate HSc. There is a large unmet need for novel therapies that prevent HSc.
Additionally microRNAs have emerged as key regulators of the innate immune responses to wound inflammation and fibrosis. Recently literature has pointed to several potential candidate miRs that regulate myofibroblast differentiation in different organs including miR-146a (blocks TGF-ß activated SMAD4 in dermal fibroblasts), miR-132, (promotes hepatic stellate cell differentiation into myofibroblasts) miR-155 (promotes aortic adventitial fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts) and mir-29a (suppresses the transdifferentiation of myoblasts into myofibroblasts).
In previous work, we used electrospinning to create prototype, non-degradable BSE. We showed that the scaffolds contained desired mechanical properties, were biomimetic, and superior to standard of care BSE. Scaffolds shielded fibroblasts from mechanotransduction-forces transmitted to cells. We hypothesize that a biodegradable electrospun poly-lactide-co-e-caprolactone (PLCL) scaffold coated in collagen with appropriate micro-topography (pore sizes of 20-200µm), overall mechanical properties, degradation rates (6-12 months in vivo) and an appropriate drug delivery system of miRNAs, will reduce HSc and affectively prevent HSc contraction in vitro as proof of concept.
Dr. Michael Ogilvie obtained his AB from Harvard University in biochemical sciences, where he investigated genetic linkage analysis for peg lateral incisor/hypodontia tooth abnormalities. After graduating cum laude in field, he pursued a joint degree MD, MBA at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and Booth Graduate School of Business, where he concentrated in medicine, economics, entrepreneurship and finance. While in medical school he researched quality improvements in internal medicine as well as clinical outcomes in plastic surgery. After successfully completing the five-year program, Dr. Ogilvie did his general surgery residency at the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital. During this time he took a two-year sabbatical for a research fellowship, also at the University of Miami, where he honed his clinical research in the fields of trauma critical care and burns. After his seven-year training program, Dr. Ogilvie is currently a plastic surgery fellow at Duke University with research interests in burns as well as facial reconstruction and aesthetic surgery.