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.
Differences Between Proliferative and Involutional Hemangiomas
Bryan Armijo MD
2009
Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine
Pilot Research Grant
Other
Hemangioma is the most common tumor of infancy, affecting approximately 10% of all children. This benign vascular tumor is composed of rapidly dividing endothelial cells which progress through three phases; proliferating, involuting, and involuted. The purpose of our study is to further delineate the genetic and cellular differences between hemangiomas in the proliferative and involuted phases. These differences will help to elucidate the mechanisms that cause a particular hemangioma to involute and ultimately guide the development of novel therapies with greater specificity and less toxicity.
Patients (6mon.-13yrs) whose lesions require surgical excision will be considered for our study. We estimate obtaining 25 samples per year, with a final goal of 50 tissue samples (2 yrs. duration). After adequate counseling (by the PI or a co-investigator) and full disclosure, an informed consent (see attached) will be obtained.
Small pieces of fresh hemangioma tissue (some in the proliferative and some in the involutional phases), as well as adjacent normal tissue (free surgical margin), will be obtained from intra-operative specimens. The specimens will be brought immediately to our laboratory facility and appropriately prepared for tissue culture as an in vitro human model of hemangioma. Any extra tissue specimen will be securely stored, indefinitely, in a -80 degree freezer.
Using this model we will utilize a variety of techniques including histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, quantitative assays of angiogenesis, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, and gene micro-array analysis to uncover genetic and cellular differences between proliferative and involuting hemangiomas. We will also be testing novel therapies, using this in vitro model, to assess their potential to induce a potential to induce a proliferative hemangioma to involute or regress, with the ultimate goal to find a treatment with greater specificity and limited toxicity.
Bryan S. Armijo, M.D. is currently a 5th year resident with the Dept. of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University under the direction of Drs. Guyuron and Gosain. He received his Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from Arizona State University and his Medical Degree at the University of Arizona. He is a member of the American Medical Association and American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In addition to being selected as a recipient of one of the highly competitive PSEF Pilot Research Grants, he has also recently been named Resident of the Year for the Dept. of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.