Stony Brook Researchers Receive NIH Grants

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NICDR) have awarded two Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine projects $2 million in grants to support work in advancing bone regeneration technology and periodontal diagnostics.

In research designed to use nanomaterials to stimulate bone growth in craniofacial tissue, David Lam, MD, DDS, PhD, a professor of surgery and oral and maxillofacial surgery and chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Srinivas Myeni, BDS, DDS, PhD, an assistant professor and director of periodontal research in the Department of Periodontology, have partnered with NuShores Biosciences to develop the technology. They will study the company’s NuCress scaffold, a nanomaterial-based bone regeneration device that has the ability to be adapted to match the pore size of the existing bone, according to the university. The treatment is indicated for patients who have bone loss in and around the oral cavity due to cancer, trauma, infections, congenital defects, and tooth loss.

Wellington Rody, DDS, MS, an associate professor and chair of the department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, is developing a noninvasive method using oral fluids to identify biomarkers that may help curb periodontal disease and dental root reabsorption early in the disease process.