The ASERF Scientific Research Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the following grant award:

Researcher: Jill Newby, PhD

Grant Award: ASERF Interim Grant

Amount Awarded: $20,000.00

Project Name: Understanding Breast Implant Illness

Project Summary:

Breast implant illness (BII) is a new term used to describe a myriad of symptoms that are proposed to be caused by breast implant (Magnusson et al. 2019); however, to date no scientific information has confirmed this, and there is no diagnostic test to make the diagnosis.
The ultimate goal of this project is to better understand the nature and causes of Breast Implant Illness, so that it can be: prevented (in women without symptoms), or treated and cured (in women with symptoms).
This project also aims to better understand the role of psychological/behavioral factors in perpetuating the distress linked to unexplained symptoms after implant surgery.

The ASERF Scientific Research Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the following grant award:

Researcher: Herluf Lund, MD & Alexander Lin, MD (Co-PIs)

Grant Award: ASERF Interim Grant

Amount Awarded: $16250.00

Project Name: Defining Ideal Female Genital Anatomy Through Novel Crowdsourcing Analysis

Project Summary:

Labiaplasty continues to increase in popularity in the United States with 10,787 surgical and non-surgical labiaplasty procedures performed in 2017. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) reports a 217.3% increase in labiaplasty procedures performed in the United States from 2012 to 2017.  The increased demand for labiaplasty is multifactorial and has been attributed to exposure through television and internet, the growing popularity of shaving the genital area, and increased media attention (Koning et al). Female genitalia displayed in the media is rarely asymmetric and frequently undergoes retouching, thus creating an unrealistic standard to which females compare their own anatomy and creating increased self consciousness in women regarding their genitalia. This has contributed to increased demand of labiaplasty procedures, as these procedures are most often pursued by women who are unsatisfied with the appearance of their genitalia or believe it is abnormal (Laan et al.). Although multiple studies have published ranges of quantitative measurements to define the normal external female genitalia (Gunthert et al., Lloyd et al.), no studies describe ideal female genital anatomy. As with many other procedures in plastic surgery, the goal of labiaplasty is not only a normal result, but an aesthetically ideal one.

In our proposed study we hope to establish ideal anatomic norms for female genitalia through crowdsourcing and identify any differences in ideal female genital anatomy that may exist between demographic groups in order to guide labiaplasty procedure aesthetic outcomes. Crowdsourcing is a novel technology utilizing large number of laypeople via the internet (“wisdom of the crowds”) whose aggregate results are valid in multiple types of studies (Crump et al.), but has not been applied to female genital anatomy.

The ASERF Scientific Research Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the following grant award:

Researcher: Galen Perdikis, MD and Felmont Eaves, III, MD (CO-PIs)

Grant Award: ASERF Interim Grant

Amount Awarded: $25,500

Project Name: Academic Aesthetic Surgery Census and Consensus Conference

Project Summary: 

Hypothesis: There are significant challenges and opportunities for aesthetic surgery within academic institutions which are often more focused on and conducive to reconstructive practices.  However the development of successful academic aesthetic surgery practices and educational capabilities are key to promoting faculty practice development, departmental/division financial stability, research in aesthetic surgery, and comprehensive resident and fellow education.  By developing a clear understanding of the current state of aesthetic aesthetic surgery and developing strategies to address the challenges of aesthetic surgery within academic centers the specialty as a whole can be strengthened.

Goals:    1. Perform a comprehensive audit of the current state of aesthetic surgery at academic institutions.  The audit will identify common obstacles and strengths, financial implications (compensation, department/division net impact), faculty capabilities and aesthetic practice development (performance evaluation, promotion), aesthetic research capabilities, and aesthetic education (aesthetic topics, resident aesthetic case exposure/participation, resident aesthetic clinics, etc.)  (Draft:  See attachment A).
               2. Round table in person meeting to analyze audit findings and formulate best practices and strategies in the format of a consensus statement.
               3. Dissemination of best practices to all Academic Centers through ASAPS, ACAPS, & AAPS
               4. Assess impact and changes successfully made based on recommendations by re-assessment (repeat audit in 2-3 years).

Relevance:    Aesthetic surgery is one of the pillars of our specialty and is of paramount importance to our financial viability as departments and divisions in the future. We need to be able to provide state of the art training in aesthetic surgery to remain the ultimate standard bearers of quality and outcomes in aesthetic surgery. The practice of aesthetic surgery at academic institutions and the capabilities, functionality, and institutional support thereof is widely variable. The reasons for this are not fully understood and have not been studied adequately. By studying underlying barriers and opportunities and by bringing together leaders to develop consensus on successful strategies and tactics to build and promote aesthetic surgery we hope to help academic aesthetic centers demonstrate relevance to their institutions and garner critical support. Over the long term the group intends to make participation available to all academic programs involved in residency training and to explore ways to expand aesthetic surgery related research, an attractive option considering the research capacity and experience housed in academic centers.

The ASERF Scientific Research Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the following grant award:

Researcher: Gemma Sharp, PhD

Grant Award: ASERF Interim Grant

Amount Awarded: $8,500

Project Name: Personalized Facelift: Development of Genital Surgery Patient-Reported Outcome Measure

Project Summary:  Adult women aged 18 and over in the USA and Australia who have ever undergone an aesthetic genital procedure of any type will be invited to participate in the proposed study through the private clinics of my collaborators (Dr Christine Hamori and Dr Jayson Oates). I will endeavour to include a broad spectrum of procedure types as well as patient demographic features in the sample. I would aim to involve approximately 50 women in the study.
In the first phase of the study, I will interview women via video conference or over the phone obtaining verbal consent at the start of the each interview. The interviews will take a semi-structured approach and involve an in-depth exploration of the personal experiences of patients with aesthetic genital surgery thus providing the areas/topics which are most important for them. The results from the interviews will allow the development of a conceptual framework of patient satisfaction and quality of life in aesthetic genital surgery. Briefly, I will undertake a qualitative analysis of all interview transcripts to identify common themes across the interviews. I will consult with my collaborators regularly to discuss and reach consensus on the themes identified and the content of the conceptual framework. I will also examine the literature and discuss with my collaborators/other medical professionals to determine whether any other important domains need to be added to the conceptual framework.  An exhaustive list of potential items will be generated for each domain within the conceptual framework. It is likely that there will be some domains which will be specific to the surgery type (e.g., hymenoplasty patients are likely to nominate different topics than vaginoplasty patients). This list will form a draft version of the PROM.

I will then invite the same women who participated in the first semi-structured interviews to review the draft PROM in a cognitive or "think aloud" interview. This will involve the participant going through the draft with me asking questions aimed at soliciting her interpretation of the item and the thought process around selecting a response. The data from these interviews will allow me to determine whether participants have understood the item and whether the response options are suitable. The draft PROM will be revised as needed on the basis of the feedback from the "think aloud" interviews and in discussion with my collaborators. After revision, the PROM will be field-tested with pre- and post-genital surgery patients (aged 18 and over) from Dr Hamori and Dr Oates' clinics. I will also invite other clinics in the USA and Australia to become involved at this stage to increase participant numbers. The PROM will be developed into an online survey using the platform, Qualtrics, and a weblink to the survey disseminated to patients via email. I would aim for 1,000 patients to complete the survey. Using Qualtrics, I will be able to accurately measure completion times. I will also offer space at the end of the online survey for patients to add feedback on acceptability of the measure. Psychometric statistical analyses will be performed on the data collected and the final PROM will be developed based on these results. Depending on the time taken to reach the required number of participants for the interviews as well as the field testing of the measure, this project may take longer than 12 months. Please note that my ethics application for this project, ensuring the safety of the research method and participants, is currently being assessed by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (see attached receipt of submission). We expect to receive full approval from this committee in July 2018 and will submit this official notification to ASERF as soon as it is received