Frederick F. Fakharzadeh, MD
Twenty-five years! The American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand has come a long way since it was established.
At the time of its humble beginnings, only a handful of grants of a few thousand dollars could be provided each year. But the AFSH now annually gives out roughly a dozen research grants of $10-20,000 each, as was the case for 2012. Additional fast-track seed grants are awarded to enable residents and fellows to start projects during their training. There are numerous designated awards that recognize and support researchers at different stages of their careers. Congratulations to all the 2012 grant recipients!
The Foundation has also supported patient education, resident and fellow scholarships, and outreach projects.
Reflective of the quality of projects that have received AFSH support is their return on investment. Over the past 5 years, roughly 20 projects that received $860,000 in initial grants from the Foundation have gained over $10.7 million in extramural grants (see the current list below). Several of these projects were featured in the symposium Highlighting the Achievements of the AFSH at the Annual Meeting in Chicago.
To commemorate its silver anniversary during the 2012 Annual Meeting in Chicago, the Foundation announced the recipient of a $100,000 grant for a multi-center clinical research study. Congratulations to Kevin Hildebrand, MD for his award-winning proposal on the treatment of post-traumatic elbow contractures.
Though much has been accomplished in the 25 years since the Foundation’s inception, much remains to be done.
Multi-center clinical trials and basic science and translational research will help us determine the best treatments for our patients. Education of our members, trainees, and the public is undergoing dramatic transformation in the digital media era. And outreach projects will allow us to bring these treatments and education to those in underserved areas through the Touching Hands Project.
Reflective of these needs and interests, the AFSH has kicked off its 25th Anniversary Capital Campaign, with the theme OUR Future in Hand. Our goal is to raise $5,000,000 in pledges, payable over the next 5 years, to support these programs in research, education, and outreach. As of the end of the Annual Meeting in Chicago, the campaign was off to a solid start with over $2,000,000 in pledges from members and the ASSH.
The success of the AFSH would not be possible without the very generous support of its members and corporate partners, and it is with deep gratitude that I would like to thank all of our donors. Together, we are advancing the care of the hand and upper extremity.
Frederick F. Fakharzadeh, MD
President, AFSH
December 2012
Extramural Grant Recipients
Projects initially funded by AFSH have received a combined $10.6 million in additional funding and this number continues to grow.
2007 Recipients:
- Martin Boyer, MD: Shriner’s Foundation
- Kevin Chung, MD: NIH R21 & R34 Awards
- Jennifer Wolf, MD: OREF Clinician-Scientist
- Kacey Marra, MD: NSF, AFRIMS
- David Ring, MD, PhD: OTA
- Warren Hammert, MD: NIH
2008 Recipients:
- Ruby Grewal, MD: CIHR Award
- Howard Levinson, MD: PSEF Award
- Jonathan Isaacs, MD: DOD
- Zhongyu Li, MD: DOD
2009 Recipients:
- Scott Wolfe, MD
- Christopher Got, MD: department NIH
- John C. Elfar, MD: institutional support