The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF): A 30-Year Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Federal government research grants provide limited funding to plastic surgeon-scientists, with reconstructive research taking precedence over aesthetic research. The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to support innovative, diverse research endeavors within aesthetic surgery. A total of 130 ASERF-funded studies and 32 non-funded applications 1992-2022 were reviewed. Kruskal Wallis, Fisher’s Exact, and Chi-Squared tests were used to assess the potential relationship between self-identified gender, practice setting, geographical location, and study type with individual grant amounts and grant funding decision. Although significant differences were observed between male and female grant recipient h-indices (p < 0.05), there were no differences in the amount of funding they received (p > 0.05). Grant amounts were also consistent between study types as well as principal investigator practice setting and geographical location (p > 0.05). The sub-analysis revealed that the Primary Investigator’s (PI’s) practice setting was the only variable to exhibit a significant association with the decision to award funding (p < 0.05). Further, of the 61 applicants between 2017 and 2022, only two PIs self-identified as female. ASERF serves as an excellent funding source for global aesthetic surgery. To promote further research diversification, increased emphasis should be placed on recruiting applicants from outside academia and those who identify as female or gender nonbinary.