Research News
Grant to Study Oral Bacteria's Behavior 
Dr. Wenyuan Shi, Professor and Chair of the Section of Oral Biology, received a research grant totaling more than $2.1 million from the NIDCR. The grant will cover research, over the next five years, to study the domestication and characterization of the bacteria TM7 - the most elusive oral bacteria. TM7 is a potential pathogen that is difficult to study, as no one had been able to culture the bacterium since its discovery 20+ years ago. Dr. Shi's research team have managed to culture the bacteria in test tubes and will now study their pathogenic potentials. The study will have a great impact on human health and disease.
Dr. Shi (PI) is joined by two Co-PIs, Dr. Xuesong He, Assistant Adjunct Professor at the School of Dentistry, and Jeff Mclean with the J. Ventor Craig Institute, and two Co-Investigators, Dr. Renate Lux and Anna Edlund.
$1M Grant Award to Explore Host Salivary Biomarkers Related to Dental Caries
Dental caries (tooth decay) is one of the most prevalent and costly diseases in the United States and throughout the world. With the support of the Delta Dental Foundation, two major research leaders in cariology, Dr. Wenyuan Shi, and salivary biomarker research, Dr. David Wong, will partner to study host salivary biomarkers related to dental caries. The impact of this partnership between the Delta Dental Foundation and UCLA is profound. It has the potential to transform patient care and treatment for one of the most costly and prevalent diseases in the world.
Utilizing Nanodiamonds to Improve Glaucoma Treatment
Glaucoma – a disorder of the eye – is estimated to affect nearly 80 million people by the year 2020. The disease often causes pressure in the eye due to a buildup of fluid and a breakdown of the tissue that is responsible for regulating fluid drainage.
In what could be a significant step toward improving the management of glaucoma, Dr. Dean Ho, Professor of Oral Biology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, and his team have created a drug delivery system that may have less severe side effects than traditional glaucoma medication and could improve patients' ability to comply with their prescribed treatments.
The team’s findings appear online in the peer-reviewed journal ACS Nano. Read the full press release.
New Grants & Contracts (January 11, 2014 - April 16, 2014)
| PI Name | Award No. | Sponsor | Project Title | Project Period | Total Budget |
| Tara Aghaloo | CR10/09 | Straumann Company | A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED, MULTI- CENTER CLINICAL STUDY EVALUATING THE CRESTAL BONE LEVEL CHANGE OF STRAUMANN BONE LEVEL O3.3 MM NC SLACTIVE ROXOLID IMP | 03/01/14 - 03/03/19 | $49,500 |
| Edmond Hewlett | 20143411 | American Dental Association | BUD TARRSON DENTAL SCHOOL STUDENT COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARD | 01/14/14 - 10/31/14 | $5,000 |
| Mo Kang/ Shebli Mehrazarin | F30DE024005-01 | NIH/NIDCR | MEHRAZARIN, SHEBLI: ROLE OF GRAINYHEAD- LIKE 2 (GRHL2) IN ORAL CARCINOGENESIS | 01/01/14 - 12/31/14 | $43,032 |
| Reuben Kim / Michelle Dang | 20140763 | American Association of Endodontists Foundation | ROLE OF PERIAPICAL ENDODONTIC LESIONS IN OSTEONECROSIS OF THE JAW IN MICE | 12/01/13 - 05/30/15 | $14,000 |
| Sanjay Mallya | CONTRACT ID 82918 | Allergan Pharmaceutical Corp. | MAXILLOFACIAL CT IMAGE ANALYSES TO EVALUATE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF BOTOX TREATMENT OF MASSETER MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY | 12/16/13 - 12/31/16 | $601,684 |
| No-Hee Park/Paulo Camargo/Fariba Younai | PH-002389 | County of Los Angeles/Department of Public Health | HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS) ORAL HEALTH CARE (DENTAL SERVICES | 03/01/13 - 02/28/15 | $1,181,454 |
| Wenyuan Shi / David Wong | 20143014 | Delta Dental of Michigan | EXPLORING HOST SALIVARY BIOMARKERS RELATED TO DENTAL CARIES | 02/01/14 - 04/30/16 | $1,000,000 |
| $4,436,977 |