The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS), the largest specialty organization representing dermatologic surgeons, has announced the distribution of $100,000 to eight research projects through its Cutting Edge Research Grant Program and over $47,000 to two projects through the Fredric S. Brandt, MD, Innovations in Aesthetics Fellowship Fund.

The Cutting Edge Research Grant Program was introduced in 1999 with the goal of uniting education and innovation to encourage clinical research and the transfer of new technologies into the surgical practice setting. It also supports Board-directed research including topics surrounding Mohs surgery for skin cancer and patient satisfaction.

In its fourth year, the Brandt Fellowship Fund – supported by the Allergan Foundation – continues the legacy of cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Fredric Brandt by promoting and supporting the career development of junior cosmetic dermatologic surgeons focused on cosmetic treatments and patient care. Recipients must be enrolled in an ASDS-accredited Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery Fellowship Training Program. This year, there is a focus on multisite cosmetic research project proposals.

“Through these programs, the recipients are now able to pursue these important topics facing dermatologic surgery which in turn will supplement their expertise,” says ASDS President Murad Alam, MD, MBA, in the release. “ASDS members are THE skin experts because of their dedication to trailblazing towards these findings, which ultimately better their patients’ experiences.”

The 2018 Cutting Edge Research Grant recipients and their research projects are:

  • Dennis Kim, MD: Implementation of a melanoma risk stratification tool for targeted cancer screening.*
  • Jeffrey Scott, MD: “Valuation and Willingness to Pay for Complex Mohs Reconstruction*
  • Bilal Fawaz, MD: The Effect of a Reconstruction Handout on Patient Satisfaction and Quality of Life in Dermatologic Surgery”*
  • Megan Shelton, MD: “CAPABLE: A scoring system utilizing patient reported measures to evaluate patient experience following Mohs surgery”*
  • Aaron Mangold, MD: “Prognostic Value of Inositol Polyphosphate 5-Phosphatase A Expression in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma”
  • Adam Sutton, MD: “Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes and Skin Cancer Treatment”*
  • Mariam Totonchy, MD: “Defining Perineural Invasion in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma”
  • Abigail Waldman, MD: “Efficacy and Safety of a Nanofat-seeded Biological Scaffold in Healing Lower Limb Surgical Defects”

*Indicates Board-directed research topic

The 2018 Brandt Fellowship Fund recipients and their research projects are:

  • Mitalee Christman, MD: “The Efficacy of Laser and Oral Tranexamic Acid in Melasma Patients: A Prospective Split Face Study”
  • Jennifer Sawaya, MD: “A Randomized, Double-blind, Split-face Controlled Pilot Study to Assess the Efficacy of Combination Microneedling and Non-ablative Fractional Laser”

For more information, visit ASDS.

[Source(s): American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, PRWeb]