Center of Excellence in Oral
and Craniofacial Biology
The Center of Excellence in Oral and
Craniofacial Biology, a Louisiana
state-acknowledged Center, is operated under the
auspices of the LSUHSC School of Dentistry
(LSUSD). Faculty in the School of Dentistry and
the School of Medicine participate in center
activities. Its research laboratories occupy two
floors at LSUSD with the
director
and staff housed amidst the laboratories. The Center
was formally established in 1999. In the same
year the center was awarded a $4.8 million grant
from the Louisiana Board of Regents Millennium
Trust Health Excellence Fund (HEF); the center's
proposal ranked second among 79 proposals
statewide. The grant provided infrastructure and
laboratory funding to fully initiate the Center
of Excellence.
In 2004, the Center received
an
NIH Center of Biomedical
Research Excellence (COBRE) award of $10.7
million to develop junior faculty into independent
researchers and enhance the administrative,
equipment and statistical
infrastructure at the dental school. The
grant ran through September 2011. The theme
of the COBRE was "oral infectious diseases" which
has become a research strength at the dental
school. Current efforts center on opportunistic
infections, periodontal disease and caries.
There is also a strong biomaterials research
program at LSUSD that is focused on
fluoride-releasing bioactive dental restorative
materials.
The Division of Biomaterials in the Department
of Comprehensive Dentistry and Biomaterials is
responsible for teaching and research in
biomaterials and dental materials. Dental
materials courses are offered to undergraduate
dental, dental
hygiene, and dental technology students. An
advanced dental materials course is offered to
residents and fellows.
The division supports
Advanced Education
programs and the research activities of faculty,
students, and residents in the school.
The Biomedical Equipment Core
and
Biomaterials Equipment Core provides major
research equipment and support for investigators.
The goal of the cores is to facilitate research
by providing access to a diverse array of
instruments while fostering greater
collaborations among students and/or faculty of
the Center of Excellence in Oral and
Craniofacial Biology. The cores have a Director
who oversees the operations and provides
maintenance of the equipment. The
Biomedical Equipment core is
led by Dr. Thomas Lallier. The
Director of
Biomaterials research is
Dr. Xiaoming Xu. |