Research

Awards presented to 10 outstanding researchers and a keynote address on the fascinating oral microbiome highlighted the UCLA School of Dentistry’s Research Day 2023, held Feb. 8 in the Neuroscience Research Building. 

Dr. Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila – who joined the School in July 2022 as associate dean of research – presided over this annual showcase of scientific discovery for the first time.

For people living with HIV, sticking to a prescribed medication regimen is a critical part of staying healthy. However, having to deal with the side effects caused by those medications —nausea and dizziness among them — can lead people to skip doses.

Now, a UCLA-led study of 130 people with HIV suggests that a tiny piece of technology could play a big role in encouraging people to take their medicine on time.

A team of scientists led by the UCLA School of Dentistry’s Ichiro Nishimura, D.D.S., D.M.Sc., D.M.D., has discovered a promising treatment to prevent or alleviate bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) through a newly formulated topical medication. 
 

Dr. Honghu Liu, chair of the School of Dentistry's Section of Public and Population Health, will serve as data and statistical analysis lead alongside a multidisciplinary team of renowned UCLA scientists conducting the Aliso Canyon Disaster Health Research Study.

The five-year, $21 million grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will focus on health consequences of the 2015–16 Aliso Canyon gas leak disaster.

Assistant Professor of Pediatric Dentistry Dr. Nini Tran spent much of the 2021-22 academic year studying conspiracies. These didn’t involve the government or UFOs, but rather how S. mutans – considered the primary caries pathogen – “conspire” with other species in the oral microbiome and tooth surface factors to exacerbate childhood caries.

As summer winds down, a group of 20 college students from across the country is reflecting on their collective experience conducting graduate-level research in the UCLA School of Dentistry for two months.

A new era of discovery is underway at the UCLA School of Dentistry with the appointment of Dr. Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila as associate dean for research and the Felix and Mildred Yip Endowed Chair.

Beginning her UCLA tenure in May 2022, Dr. Hernandez-Kapila oversees a robust research program with more than $21M in contracts and grants awarded last fiscal year, with approximately 50 active initiatives at any given time.

A paper published in the January 17, 2022 online edition of the Journal of Immunology focuses on saliva COVID-19 antibody testing. The paper, "The Kinetics of COVID-19 Vaccine Response in a Community-Vaccinated Population," was selected as an Editor’s Choice. Authors include Michael K. Tu, Samantha H. Chiang, Richard A. Bender, David T. W. Wong and Charles M. Strom.

Ten active faculty members from the UCLA School of Dentistry were identified as Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in their world scientist rankings.They include Drs. David Wong, Cun-Yu Wang, Paul Krebsbach, Shane White, Kathryn Atchison, Francisco Ramos-Gomez, and Diana Messadi, as well as three faculty members from the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics and Weintraub Center: Drs. Ben Wu, Ichiro Nishimura, and Takahiro Ogawa.

Jordan Cheng, DMD, a graduate trainee in the Oral Biology Ph.D. program at the UCLA School of Dentistry, was recently awarded the National Cancer Institute’s Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00). The F99/K00 award is to support and retain outstanding graduate students recognized by their institutions for their high potential and strong interest in pursuing careers as independent cancer researchers. The award will facilitate the transition of trainees from their graduate training to postdoctoral appointments at high-impact cancer labs.