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.
Adipocyte Stem Cell Enhancement of Distraction in Radiated Jaws
Steven Buchman MD
2011
University of Michigan
The US Surgeon General has reported that diseases of the craniofacial region are among the most common health problems affecting the general population. Devastating head and neck cancer (HNC) single-handedly impose a significant biomedical burden by accounting for 8000 deaths and 35,720 new cases each year in the U.S. alone (Jemal). Most of these patients will necessitate multimodality therapy with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Although radiotherapy has significantly improved survival, it drastically impairs bone healing and adjacent normal tissues leading to significant morbidity and thus precluding the use of mandibular Distraction Osteteogenesis (DO) as a viable reconstructive option for HNC. Distraction Osteogenesis, or the creation of new bone by gradual separation of two osteogenic fronts, generates an anatomical and functional replacement of deficient tissue from local substrate. The central hypothesis to be tested in this proposal is that the deleterious effect of radiation on bone formation can be mitigated to allow functional restoration and successful regeneration of the mandible. To test this hypothesis we will utilize our unique and reliable rodent model for DO and the specific metrics of diminished bone quality within the regenerate of irradiated distracted mandibles. We will employ tissue-engineering strategies (human adipocyte derived stem cells transplant or fat grafting) alone and in combination with a pharmacologic agent (Simvastatin), to assuage the adverse impact of radiation induced injury on new bone formation and healing in order to optimize reconstruction and repair. The long-term goal of this proposal is to provide fundamental information that can be translated from the bench to the bedside to lead to improved treatment modalities to this severely compromised patient population.