Grant Enables Study of Bone Repair
Drs. Lyndon Cooper, Associate Dean for Research and Professor and Head, Oral Biology; Dr. Ghadeer Thalji, Clinical Associate Professor, Restorative Dentistry; and Dr. Timothy Koh, Professor, Applied Health Sciences, have received a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award pilot grant of $60,000 for their project, “Monocyte/MMacrophage Control of Induced Bone Repair Application.”
The research is intended to extend existing knowledge regarding the influence of the immune system on bone repair.
“In particular, we are interested in how one type of immune cell, the monocyte, influences bone regeneration,” Dr. Cooper said. “This is important to dentistry and medicine because the complications and difficulties we face in bone regeneration appear in individuals with inflammation or immune system dysfunction.”
An example is type II diabetes; patients with this disease, experience greater complications and failures of dental implant therapy.
“In this regard, we are also proposing to study the function of monocytes in bone repair in a model of diabetes,” Dr. Cooper said.
The CCTS pilot grant was designed to promote collaboration.
“Collaboration with Dr. Koh, who has expertise in monocyte function and particularly in diabetes enables our labaoratory with expertise in bone regeneration to address these clinically important questions in more meaningful ways,” Dr. Cooper added.
“Through our collaborative efforts, we hope to determine how monocytes in health and disease influence bone regeneration,” Dr. Cooper said. “Ultimately, this may permit better clinical control of bone healing and regeneration in the clinical setting.