Funding Portfolio
The UCLA School of Dentistry has one of the most robust research programs among all U.S. dental schools. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, the School of Dentistry received more than $17.5M in research contracts and grants, of which $13.4M came from National Institutes of Health (NIH) agencies.
Active Grants
| Project Title | Project Period | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tara Aghaloo, D.D.S., M.D., Ph.D. | University of Southern California | Center for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Tissue and Organ Regeneration (C-DOCTOR) | 05/07/20 - 04/30/24 | $2,136,475 |
| Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila, D.D.S., Ph.D., F.A.C.D., F.I.C.D., E.L.A.M. Fellow | University of Michigan | Treponema - Host Cell and Tissue Interactions | 05/01/22 - 01/31/27 | $604,933 |
| Thomas K. Lee, D.D.S. | University of Illinois | Midwest Integration of the National HIV Curriculum (MINHC) | 03/21/23 - 08/31/26 | $10,000 |
| Flavia Queiroz Pirih, D.D.S., Ph.D. | University of Florida | Molecular Control of Bone Development and Inflammation by FBXO11 | 05/01/22 - 04/30/25 | $36,913 |
| Sunil Kapila, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco | The Mechanistic Control of Bone Quality and Joint Crosstalk by Osteocytes | 07/01/22 - 05/31/25 | $42,024 |
| Vivek Shetty, D.D.S., DR.MED.DENT. | University of California, Irvine | Training Institutes for Mobile Health (mHealth) Methodologies | 06/01/22 - 05/31/24 | $20,000 |
| Jimmy Hu, Ph.D. | United States Israel Binational Science Foundation(Bsf) | Identifying Mechanisms of Basal Stem Cell Delamination and Differentiation in the Mouse Incisor | 10/02/22 - 09/30/26 | $67,111 |
| Yong Kim, Ph.D. | UC Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program | Amniotic Exosomal Extracellular RNA from Fetal Lung Affected by Prenatal Nicotine Exposure | 07/01/20 - 06/30/24 | $536,772 |
| Fang Wei, Ph.D. | Trb3-Directed Target Therapy for Craniofacial Bone Regeneration in Osteoporosis | Trb3-Directed Target Therapy for Craniofacial Bone Regeneration in Osteoporosis | 09/01/22 - 08/31/24 | $50,000 |
| Eric C. Sung, D.D.S. | The Nicholas Endowment | A Proposal in Support of Improving the Oral health of the West of Los Angeles Special Patient Population | 10/18/23 - 12/31/24 | $50,000 |
| Elizabeth Perez | The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation | Pediatric Dentistry Clinic Funds | 01/01/24 - 12/31/28 | $100,000 |
| Daniela Orellana, D.D.S., M.S. | The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation | Programmatic Support to the UCLA Children's Dental Center | 07/01/19 - 06/30/24 | $50,000 |
| Tara Aghaloo, D.D.S., M.D., Ph.D. | Straumann Company | Immediate Placement of the Straumann® Bone Level Tapered Implant with Early Loading in Single Tooth Gaps in the Maxilla and Mandible Compared to Delayed Placement | 02/17/17 - 04/30/24 | $101,920 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation | EFIRSASM Liquid Biopsy for Early Detection of Sjogrens Syndrome and SICCA Patients | 09/01/20 - 02/28/24 | $74,998 |
| Tara Aghaloo, D.D.S., M.D., Ph.D. | S M Peckham Consulting, LLC | CDA20242163: Bone Regeneration Project | 11/07/23 - 11/07/24 | $0 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | RNAimmune, Inc. | Testing the Efficacy of Ras mRNA Vaccine for Colorectal Cancer | 06/07/21 - 11/30/24 | $645,590 |
| Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H. | Riverside County Office of Education | CARE-PD Rural/Migrant Early Head Start Staff & Family Oral Health Training | 01/01/21 - 12/31/24 | $0 |
| Nini Tran, D.D.S., Ph.D. | Oral Genome | CDA20232413: Discussions for Research Interests, Alignment, and Potential Future Collaboration | 01/13/23 - 01/13/28 | $0 |
| Tara Aghaloo, D.D.S., M.D., Ph.D. | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation | Objective Clinical, Radiographic and Biochemical Parameters Associated with Treatment Outcomes for Patients with MRONJ | 01/01/21 - 12/31/24 | $75,000 |
| Igor Spigelman, Ph.D. | NIH-NINDS National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | Peripherally-Restricted Non-Addictive Cannabinoids for Cancer Pain Treatment | 08/01/23 - 07/31/25 | $3,174,343 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | NIH-NIMHD National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities | An Integrated Intervention using a Pill Ingestible Sensor System to Trigger Actions on Multifaceted Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health Among PLWH | 09/24/23 - 04/30/28 | $1,025,878 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Post-Translocational Protein Folding in Gram-Positive Bacteria | 09/22/20 - 08/31/25 | $1,449,268 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | UCLA Dentist-Scientist and Oral Health-Researcher Training Program | 07/01/21 - 06/30/26 | $492,619 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Bruins in Genomics: Dental, Oral & Craniofacial Research Training Program (BIG DOC) | 01/15/21 - 12/31/25 | $891,355 |
| Ichiro Nishimura, D.D.S., D.M.Sc., D.M.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Responsible Conduct of Research Training in Biomedical Data Science for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research | 04/01/21 - 03/31/24 | $269,937 |
| Jimmy Hu, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Using Single Cell Transcriptomic Analysis to Uncover Genetic Pathways for De Novo Generation of Dental Epithelial Progenitors | 06/14/21 - 05/31/24 | $311,999 |
| Bo Yu, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Regulation of Alveolar Bone Marrow MSC Senescence in Skeletal Aging and Periodontitis | 07/02/21 - 04/30/26 | $1,107,793 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | The Inhibition of HNSCC Growth and Metastasis by Targeting KDM4A | 07/01/21 - 04/30/26 | $1,188,139 |
| Samantha Martinez | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Immunoregulatory Role of Saliva Polymeric IgA1 in the Pathogenesis of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome | 07/02/21 - 06/30/24 | $311,999 |
| Jimmy Hu, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Mechanical Regulation of Transcription in Dental Epithelial Stem Cells Through Cell Packing and Tissue Forces | 04/01/22 - 03/31/27 | $722,011 |
| Flavia Queiroz Pirih, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Genomewide Association Studies in Peri-implant Bone Loss | 02/01/22 - 01/31/24 | $429,000 |
| Sunil Kapila, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Local and Systemic Multi-Omics of TMJ Disorders | 09/09/22 - 08/31/24 | $420,198 |
| Min Lee, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Hydrogel Delivery of DBM and Exosome Mimetics for Bone Repair | 08/10/22 - 05/31/27 | $741,003 |
| Min Lee, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Tribbles Homolog 3 and BMP-2 Induced Bone Formation | 06/04/18 - 05/31/24 | $1,848,597 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Epigenetic Regulation of Orofacial Bone Homeostasis and Aging by KDM4B | 09/10/18 - 05/31/24 | $1,848,795 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Metabolic Modulation of Fusobacterium Nucleatum Virulence | 03/01/23 - 02/28/25 | $212,450 |
| Vivek Shetty, D.D.S., DR.MED.DENT. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Personalized Digital Behavior Change Interventions to Promote Oral Health | 08/01/19 - 03/31/27 | $1,952,089 |
| Yan Wang, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Oral Microbiome Establishment and Development of Latinx Children at the US-Mexico Border | 07/01/23 - 06/30/28 | $139,185 |
| Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila, D.D.S., Ph.D., F.A.C.D., F.I.C.D., E.L.A.M. Fellow | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | UCLA Dental Specialty PhD Program | 06/01/23 - 05/31/28 | $219,893 |
| Yi-Wei Chen, M.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Targeting Grainyhead-Like 2 Suppresses Entry Factors of SARS-CoV-2 in Epithelial Cells of Oral Mucosa | 04/01/22 - 03/31/24 | $429,000 |
| Reuben Kim, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Osteomucosal Healing and Immunity in Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw | 07/19/23 - 07/18/24 | $390,000 |
| Flavia Queiroz Pirih, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | The Role of CXCL10-CXCR3 Axis in the Compounding Effects of Diabetes Mellitus in Periodontitis | 08/01/23 - 07/31/25 | $432,203 |
| Sunil Kapila, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Interdisciplinary Collaborative for Advances and Research Excellence in TMDs (ICARE TMD) | 09/19/23 - 09/18/24 | $312,000 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Molecular Assembly on the Cell Surface of Actinomyces | 09/14/18 - 08/31/24 | $2,008,474 |
| Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Examining Impacts of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Hispanic Treatement Differences and Oral Health Disparities; Known Internally as "Smiles of Hope - Proyecto Hispanico de Esperanza" (SoPHE) | 09/21/23 - 09/20/24 | $572,258 |
| Nini Tran, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Exploring Knowledge Gaps in Childhood Caries Through Integrated Biological and Clinical Research | 09/15/18 - 08/31/24 | $702,007 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | UCLA Dentist-Scientist and Oral Health-Researcher Training Program | 07/01/21 - 06/30/26 | $1,261,864 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | PROMIS Oral Health Toolkit-Supported School-Based Oral Health Program | 06/01/20 - 05/31/24 | $3,040,759 |
| Hung Ton-That, Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Virulence Determinants of Fusobacterium Nucleatum | 09/01/18 - 08/31/24 | $1,725,459 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Targeting Super-Enhancers Suppresses Cancer Stemness and Invasion of HNSCC | 08/01/20 - 05/31/25 | $1,586,175 |
| Sotirios Tetradis, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research | Pathophysiologic Mechanisms During Initiation of Medication Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaws | 09/16/20 - 08/31/25 | $1,441,420 |
| Vivek Shetty, D.D.S., DR.MED.DENT. | NIH-NIDA National Institute on Drug Abuse | Training Institutes for Mobile Health (mHealth) Methodologies | 02/15/20 - 01/31/24 | $828,154 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NIA National Institute on Aging | Epigenetic Regulation of Autophagy and Stemness of MSCs in Skeletal Aging | 09/15/23 - 08/31/24 | $392,709 |
| Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila, D.D.S., Ph.D., F.A.C.D., F.I.C.D., E.L.A.M. Fellow | NIH-NCI National Cancer Institute | Oral Microbiome and Inflammatory Status in Antimicrobially-Treated Oral Cancer Patients | 09/01/22 - 05/31/27 | $1,279,264 |
| Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D. | NIH-NCI National Cancer Institute | Molecular and Epigenetic Control of Wnt/ß-Catenin-Mediated Oncogenesis by KDM4B | 02/01/20 - 01/31/25 | $1,696,996 |
| Feng Li, M.Sc., Ph.D. | NIH-NCI National Cancer Institute | Novel Ultra-Short Cell Free DNA Biomarkers for Early Detection of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer | 07/15/23 - 06/30/25 | $183,494 |
| Feng Li, M.Sc., Ph.D. | NIH-NCI National Cancer Institute | Novel Ultra-Short Cell Free DNA Biomarkers for Early Detection of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer | 07/15/23 - 06/30/25 | $183,494 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | NIH-NCI National Cancer Institute | EFIRM Liquid Biopsy Research Laboratory: Early Lung Cancer Assessment | 09/15/23 - 08/31/28 | $932,146 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | NIH-NCATS National Center for Advancing Translational Science | Acoustofluidic Separation (AFS), Purification and Raman Spectral Fingerprinting of Single EVs: From Cell of Origin to Target Cell and Biofluids | 09/05/19 - 07/31/24 | $2,593,103 |
| Ichiro Nishimura, D.D.S., D.M.Sc., D.M.D. | Maruho Co., Ltd. (Japan) | Analysis of Molecular Mechanisms Related to Wound Healing Enhancement by Reserpine via Suppression of Npas2 Expression; Toward Development of Topical Medicine for Treatment of Hypertrophic Scars and Periodontal Disease | 08/15/22 - 08/14/24 | $444,231 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | LAC-Department of Public Health | Baldwin Hills Health Assessment and Environmental Justice Study (#EVAL-WOS-34) | 05/26/21 - 06/30/24 | $399,964 |
| Fariba S. Younai, D.D.S. | Lac-Department of Public Health | Oral Health Care Services (OHS) for Ryan White Program (RWP) Eligible Persons Living with HIV (PLWH) | 07/01/19 - 02/29/24 | $8,060,000 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | Lac-County of Los Angeles | Statement of Qualification (#2018-013) | 10/14/20 - 06/03/27 | $0 |
| Igor Spigelman, Ph.D. | Duke University | Blink, Lacrimation, and Nociception: Precision Mapping and Integrated Atlas Generation of Corneal Trigeminal Afferents in Mice and Humans | 09/01/23 - 08/31/24 | $246,815 |
| Takahiro Ogawa, D.D.S., Ph.D. | DIO USA Corporation | UV Photofunctionalization of Titanium | 06/09/23 - 06/08/25 | $501,466 |
| Francisco Ramos-Gomez, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H. | DHHS-HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration | Community Access Rural Education in Pediatric Dentistry (CARE-PD) | 07/01/20 - 06/30/25 | $1,854,940 |
| Vinodh Bhoopathi, B.D.S., M.P.H., D.Sc.D. | DHHS-HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration | California School-Linked Electronic Dental Referrals and Community Based Education for Dental Students (SEEDS) Initiative | 09/01/22 - 08/31/26 | $794,557 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | Ca-Department of Public Health | County Level Oral Health Estimates in California | 03/16/23 - 12/31/25 | $414,930 |
| Honghu Liu, Ph.D. | Ca-Department of Public Health | Referral Management System and Data and Statistical Coordination Center | 05/01/23 - 04/30/26 | $356,880 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | Avellino Lab USA, Inc. | CDA20224532: Machine Learning and AI to Develop Biomarkers in Saliva for Cancer Detection | 03/01/22 - 02/28/25 | $0 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | American Cancer Society, Incorporated | Liquid Biopsy Biomarker Development for Malignancy Progression of Oral Premalignant Mucosal Lesions | 01/01/24 - 12/31/27 | $198,000 |
| Sunil Kapila, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. | American Association of Orthodontists Foundation | Faculty Career Enrichments in Orthodontics Consortium | 07/01/22 - 06/30/29 | $211,027 |
| Yan Wang, Ph.D. | American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) (Formerly AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR DENTAL RESEARCH (AADR) | NIDCR Mentoring Network to Support a Diverse Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research Workforce | 08/31/23 - 09/30/24 | $0 |
| David T.W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.SC. | Aionco, Inc. | Machine Learning /Artificial Intelligence to Develop Genetic (WGS/WES) Information for Cancer Detection | 07/18/22 - 07/17/24 | $148,088 |
| Renate Lux, Ph.D. | 3M corporation (Incl3mhealth care & 3 M pharmaceuticals) | The Effect of Light-cured Fluoride Varnish to Remineralize Post-orthodontic White Spot Lesions and Change the Oral Microbiome: A Split-mouth Randomized Clinical Trial | 08/26/21 - 02/06/24 | $19,880 |