American Society for Surgery of the Hand 2008 Research Division Update
By Dr. James Chang
It is a pleasure to update you on new developments within the ASSH Research Division. In 2007, the Research Task Force, convened by Dr. Richard Gelberman and led by Dr. Kevin Chung, reviewed the ASSH research program. The task force found a long distinguished history of basic science and clinical grant funding; however, several areas for possible improvement were identified. These included: 1) better follow-up of the grants disbursed, 2) increased interaction with principal investigators regarding critiques of their grant submissions, and 3) improved mentoring of promising young investigators.
Due to the efforts of the ASSH Presidential line, Drs. Gelberman, Glickel, and Koman, AFSH Capital Campaign Chair Dr. Terry Light, AFSH President Dr. Anne Miller, and your generous support, we are making great strides towards developing the next generation of researchers in hand surgery. Here is what has happened so far:
Streamlining of Research Committees
In order to streamline the Research Division, the myriad of research committees was centralized into two main committees, the Research Management Committee (RMC) and the Clinical Trials and Outcomes Committee (CTOC). The Research Management Committee consists of senior scientists, both clinical and basic science, who have a proven track record of publication and successful grant funding. This committee is currently chaired by Dr. Richard Berger and is modeled after an NIH study section. Its first goal was to ensure that ASSH research dollars are allocated to projects that will be clinically important to members and will have the potential to change the practice of hand surgery.
Encouraging NIH Grant Submissions
One sobering finding from the Research Task Force was that no hand surgeon had received an NIH Young Investigator award (K08 or K23) from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in the past five years! In order to encourage our young investigators to pursue this career path, the Research Management Committee revamped the ASSH grant application to be in the exact same format as the NIH grant application. This year, 27 investigators submitted an ASSH grant in the full NIH format. The Research Management Committee met to review these grants after having first evaluated each grant independently. After much discussion, the RMC wrote critiques and suggestions for each grant in hopes that those who are not funded will resubmit to the ASSH and other funding agencies. In addition, the RMC held conference calls with past grant awardees, tracking their progress and assisting them as necessary.
Mentorship of Young Investigators
The future of hand surgery research depends on our young members who will need to apply in an incredibly competitive grant environment. This year, the Hand Society sponsored a young investigator, Dr. Scott Hansen, from University of California of San Francisco to attend the week-long American College of Surgeons grant writing workshop. Dr. Hansen returned with high praises for this program and is on his way to submitting an NIH grant. This Fall, the ASSH will be soliciting applications from young investigators to attend the US Bone and Joint Decade grant writing workshop in February.
Multi-Center Clinical Trials
Many of our members returned an ASSH membership survey stating their interest in supporting and participating in multi-center clinical trials in areas relevant to hand surgery. The five areas most relevant to our membership were: 1) Distal radius fractures, 2) Carpal injuries, 3) Arthritis, 4) Tendon injuries, and 5) Peripheral nerve injuries. The Clinical Trials and Outcomes Committee was established to explore ways to develop multi-center clinical trials and to encourage young investigators interested in clinical research. It is clear that the clinical projects may have the earliest returns for changing the practice of hand surgery because valid outcomes data from a multi-center trial would lead to evidence-based data for improved patient care and reimbursement. However, the challenges of a multi-center clinical trial are enormous. Dr. Kevin Chung is the current chair of this committee and is finding novel ways to develop work groups and new funding opportunities for these investigators.
The CTOC recently hosted a highly successful mentorship program for four young investigators who had submitted applications for ASSH clinical grants. These mentees were Dr. Ruby Grewal, Dr. Jeff Friedrich, Dr. Dan Zlotolow, and Dr. Greg Merrell. They spent an entire weekend with senior researchers and received careful evaluation and criticism in the hopes that they will be able to craft their proposals into successful grant awards.
New Programs to Come
We have accomplished quite a bit this past year and you can see your generous contributions to the AFSH have had immediate results. This is only the start. At the upcoming ASSH Annual Meeting, we plan to unveil new programs and awards that will further diversify the research portfolio. Our ultimate goal is to have the American Society for Surgery of the Hand lead its own future for what is relevant in hand surgery research.