Each year, the Division of Plastic Surgery holds quarterly research meetings with all faculty, residents and research faculty and staff within the Division. Each resident presents their research projects at the final meeting of the year. We are excited to share with you some of the projects the Division of Plastic Surgery is currently working on: 

  • A research fellowship was created a few years ago.  Our 2020-2021 fellow is Jessica Luo. We are excited to have her on the team and work with her over the next year. 
  • Twice a year, a $10,000 Division Grant is awarded to help residents in their research endeavors. In August, this grant was split to fund two projects.

    • Dr. Paul Tenzel, PGY-7 resident along with faculty members Dr. Courtney Crombie and Dr. Alvin Kwok are working on a project titled “Thermographic Imaging Of Breast T-Junction Approximation as a Predictor of Complications” They plan on evaluating the healing of the “T junction” in breast reductions and lifts using a cell phone attachment thermography camera. 
    • The second grant was awarded to Dr. Evelyn Reed, PGY-2 resident, along with faculty Dr. Shaun Mendenhall, research fellow, Jessica Luo, and collaborators in Neurosurgery for their project titled “Targeted Muscle Reinnervation of the Foot for Morton’s Neuroma – An Anatomic Study”. The purpose of this anatomic study is to identify potential motor nerve targets close to the location of Morton’s neuromas for targeted muscle reinnervation.
  • Dr. Alvin Kwok was also recently awarded a University of Utah Imagine Perfect Care grant for his Opioid Patient Education Video project.

Check out more of our current projects and research publications. 

Plastic Surgery Active Grants

PI: Cori Agarwal, MD
Project: Perceived Barriers to Healthcare Among Transgender Persons in the United States: A Nationwide Survey
Sponsor: B. W. Bastian Foundation
Amount: $3,000
 
PI: Jayant Agarwal, MD/Sujee Jeyapalina, PhD
Project: Minimally Invasive V.A.C. Therapy with Instillation for Treating Infected Skin-Implant Interfaces in Percutaneous Osseointegrated Devices
Sponsor: Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program
Amount: $750,000
 
PI: Jayant Agarwal MD/Sujee Jeyapalina, PhD
Project: Heat-Treated Porous Fluorapatite Scaffolds with Adipose Derived Stem Cells for Bone Regeneration
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Amount: $200,000
 
PI: Jayant Agarwal, MD
Project: Pediatric Fibrin Sealant
Sponsor: Grifols
Amount: $24,993
 
PI: Jayant Agarwal, MD
Project: Imagine Perfect Care
Sponsor: University of Utah
Amount: $52,800
 
PI: Barbu Gociman, MD, PhD/Faizi Siddiqi,MD
Project: NSF I-corps grant
Sponsor: University of Utah Center for Medical Innovation
Amount: $3,000
 
PI: Barbu Gociman, MD, PhD/Faizi Siddiqi, MD
Project: Osteogenesis- Resorbable Plating System
Sponsor: University of Utah Technology and Venture Commercialization
Amount: $5,000
 
Co-I: Barbu Gociman, MD, PhD
Project: Gociman R03
Sponsor: NIH
Amount: $150,000
 
Co-I: W. Bradford Rockwell, MD
Project: Simulating Tendon Reconstructive Surgeries using a Virtual Hand Model and Robotic Testbed Craniofacial Defects
Sponsor: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 
Amount: $347,798
 
Co-I: Sujee Jeyapalina, PhD
Project: Functional Expectations of Transhumeral Percutaneous Osseointegration Patients
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Amount: $1,099.080
 
Co-I: Sujee Jeyapalina, PhD
Project: Jeyapalina Virginia Tech Sub
Sponsor:  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and St. Univ
 
PI: Alvin Kwok, MD, MPH
Project: Patient Focused Opioid Education
Sponsor: University of Utah, Imagine Perfect Care
Amount: $7,000
 
PI: Alvin Kwok, MD, MPH
Project: Phase 2b/3 Randomized, Prospective, Double-blind, within-subject control, multi-center study to determine the efficacy and safety of Granexin gel in reducing surigcal wounds following bilateral anchor incision breast surgery
Sponsor: Advanced Clinical