The Plastic Surgery Foundation
Log In Donate Now
 

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.

Evaluating Patient Reported Outcomes in Breast Cancer Patients

Principal Investigator
Dunya Atisha MD

Year
2012

Institution
Duke University Medical Center

Funding Mechanism
Pilot Research Grant

Focus Area
Breast (Cosmetic / Reconstructive), General Reconstructive

Abstract
With an estimated 230,480 newly diagnosed invasive cancer cases and 57,650 in-situ cases in 2011, breast cancer is the number one cancer diagnosed in women. Since breast conservation surgery (BCS) with radiation, mastectomy (M), and post-mastectomy breast reconstruction (BR) have similar recurrence rates and survival, evaluating health related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes and patient satisfaction in women who have had these procedures is necessary to facilitate the surgical decision making process and to maximize short and long-term health of those facing a breast cancer diagnosis. With the increase in the rate of prophylactic mastectomies and the persistent 25% of patients choosing mastectomy, a large proportion of women are candidates for BR. However, rates of BR remain low at a mere 8% of those undergoing breast cancer surgery. This may be related to insufficient knowledge of the value of BR on short and long term outcomes; particularly compared to the other procedures. Current studies about this are limited by small patient numbers, few institutions, and the use of surveys that are not specific to breast cancer patients or their procedures. What is needed are patient-reported outcomes which are collected using targeted items and scales specific to the surgical groups. We propose a study of breast cancer survivors enrolled in the Susan Love/Avon Army of Women foundation which consists of 360,758 women interested in accelerating breast cancer research; 29% of whom are survivors. We aim to evaluate and compare HRQOL and patient satisfaction in those who had BCS, M, and BR and to evaluate the effect of time on these outcomes. The long-term goal of this study is to improve the treatment of patients by providing the evidence needed to guide surgical decision making and influence disparities in breast cancer care. As quality metrics and equal access to care become increasingly central to healthcare reform, such data will be crucial for physicians and patients.

Biography
Dunya Atisha, MD is a Chief Resident in the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. She received her medical degree from Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine and previously completed a degree in biologic psychology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Atisha completed her general surgery residency at the University of Iowa and is a board certified general surgeon. She began her training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Duke University Medical Center in July, 2010 and she is expected to graduate in June, 2013. In the middle of her general surgery training, Dr. Atisha spent two years as a co-investigator with Edwin Wilkins, MD and Amy Alderman, MD at the University of Michigan, focusing her work on surgical and patient reported outcomes in breast reconstruction. She has presented several abstracts regionally and nationally and authored numerous publications. Dr. Atisha has expanded her focus to evidence-based decision-making in breast cancer surgery and she hopes to provide an evaluation of the way patient decisions effect health related quality of life (HRQOL) and satisfaction with care throughout the survivorship period.