PSEF Funded Program Recipients

The Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of PSEF funded research programs.

2008 PSEF Research Fellow

Jason Ko, MD – PSEF Research Fellow

• Refinements in Targeted Reinnervation and Its Effects on Neuroma Formation
• Northwestern University
• Sponsor: Gregory A. Dumanian, MD

Dr. Ko received his undergraduate degree in Economics with a Minors in Philosophy and Chemistry at Duke University in Durham, NC, after which he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Korea. Following his year in Korea, Dr. Ko completed his medical degree at the Duke University School of Medicine, during which time he served as a research assistant in a number of studies, as well as a fellow in the Frank Hawkins Kenan Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory.

During this research year in medical school, Dr. Ko was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fellowship to extend his research evaluating the effects of angiogenesis inhibitors on wound healing in a mouse model. In addition to his basic science research experience, Dr. Ko was also heavily involved with research regarding medical ethics at Duke University.

As a current resident in the integrated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery program at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, and as the 2008 Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF) Research Fellow, Dr. Ko will work under the supervision of Gregory A. Dumanian, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery and Program Director in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Northwestern University.

Dr. Ko will perform human cadaver and animal research to help refine Targeted Reinnervation (TR)—a novel strategy to achieve a functioning neural-machine interface that allows amputees to voluntarily control their motorized prosthetic limbs much as they would control their native limbs—and to investigate the utility of TR as a way to prevent or treat the formation of painful neuromas. Dr. Ko’s interests in reconstructive surgery and peripheral nerve surgery made his decision to pursue research on TR an easy one.

During his early years as a resident, Dr. Ko saw firsthand the difference that TR can make in the lives of amputees, which is becoming all the more relevant as an increasing number of soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan having suffered from blast amputations. Dr. Ko sees TR as an innovative strategy that represents the power of translational research—the concepts behind TR are based on animal research originally performed by Todd Kuiken, MD, PhD, who is Dr. Ko’s co-Principle Investigator at Northwestern University and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)—which may help to explain the media attention that TR has received in recent years on CNN, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and in The New Yorker, amongst others. However, as revolutionary and successful as TR has proven to be, there are still many unanswered questions, and the goal of Dr. Ko’s research is to improve upon current TR modalities and to utilize TR as a potentially novel treatment for painful neuromas.

2008 PSEF/Fresh Start Research Fellow

Howard Levinson, MD – PSEF/Fresh Start Research Fellow

• Scar Contracture Prevention By Inhibition of Cell Contractility
• Duke University Medical Center
• Sponsor: L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS

Dr. Levinson obtained his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. and subsequently completed a General Surgery residency at Brookdale University Hospital. During his General Surgery training, he spent 3-years in Wound Healing research fellowships (1 year with Michael T Longaker, MD, MBA and 2 years with H Paul Ehrlich, PhD).

Dr Levinson is currently a chief resident in the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery at Duke University Medical Center. Throughout his training he has garnered numerous research awards and fellowships. Beginning July, 2008 Dr Levinson will join the faculty of the Duke University Medical Center Division as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Department of Pathology. He will begin his 2008 Fresh Start Research Fellowship under the supervision of L. Scott Levin, MD, Chief, Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery at Duke University.

Dr. Levinson intends to investigate the hypothesis that scar contracture is caused by cell contractility. His research will focus on identifying which of the multiple well-known contractile signaling agonists contribute to tissue remodeling and understanding how these pathways are regulated. With the support of the Fresh Start Research Fellowship, he hopes to fulfill his long term goal to develop a drug that will inhibit scar contracture formation.