UCSF Professor Awarded $8M For Dental Stem Cell Research

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research recently awarded Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, with one of two inaugural Sustaining Outstanding Achievement in Research (SOAR) grants. The SOAR awards are designed to encourage long-term ambitious and innovative research. Klein’s grant totals $8.24 million, which will be allocated over the course of 8 years. Klein—chair of the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies and the Charles J. Epstein Endowed Chair in Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco—will use the grant to support his research on the regenerative properties of craniofacial and dental stem cells. Klein’s research looks at how organs form in embryo and renew and regenerate in adulthood. An improved understanding of stem cells gives hope to one day treating disease via novel regenerative approaches.