Associate Dean of Research Yang Chai PhD ’91, DDS ’96 has been awarded a five-year, nearly $2 million grant by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) for research focused …

Nearly half of all birth defects involve the face and skull and, for the most part, scientists remain unclear as to why most occur. To better serve families at risk for these …

To figure out how the body changes over time, researchers are increasingly looking to understand epigenetics, the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of …

As a young oral surgeon in China, Yang Chai often operated on babies born with cleft lips or palates. “You talk to the parents, and they were very emotional and trying find …

The lower two-thirds of a tooth are known as the root. Normally covered in bone, they anchor the tooth into the jaw. But the exact mechanisms and pathways that create the root …

Could we be one step closer to developing a biological treatment for craniosynostosis? Building upon a body of research that demonstrated that the premature fusion of skull bones — which can cause …

“The field of stem cell biology is one of our great convergence opportunities,” said USC Provost Michael Quick, addressing an audience of biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, clinicians and many others. This diverse …

Yang Chai, associate dean of research at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a membership that is considered one of the …

Students and trainees took center stage at the annual retreat for USC’s Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. They presented their latest research to the 180 stem cell scientists who …

If you lose a limb, it’s lost for life. If you damage a kidney, you won’t grow a new one. And if you have a heart attack, the scars are there to …

“The process of disease is about detail,” said Larry Goldstein, the director of the stem cell program at the University of California, San Diego, and keynote speaker at the retreat for USC’s …

Every time we drink or breathe, the soft palate is hard at work. It acts like a trap door, allowing air to squeeze through or shutting so liquids can pass by. And …

“I think we’re all here for the same reason,” said Michaela Patterson, a postdoc in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. “We’re considering …

“Focus on one goal, be open minded and be persistent.” These are wise words from Nelson Poliran Jr., a standout scientist-in-training at USC. Poliran’s academic success hasn’t always come easily, though.

A group of researchers has found that three siblings born with cleft lip and palate share a common gene mutation associated with the birth defect. The gene intraflagellar transport 88 (IFT88) ensures …

A research team called C-DOCTOR (Center for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Tissue and Organ Regeneration), initiated by the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, is one step closer to developing products that …

It might surprise you to learn that your cranium is not one continuous smooth bone encasing your brain. It’s actually comprised of eight bones, separated by fibrous joints, to give your skull …

Yang Chai, associate dean of Research at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, has just received $2.1 million to continue research that could one day allow scientists to use stem cells …

Tissue regeneration is about to become more fact than fiction, thanks to a $2 million grant that’s being divided among 10 research centers and universities, including the Ostrow School of Dentistry of …

Working alone, a scientist or university can only make so much progress in finding answers to basic questions or new treatments for diseases ranging from HIV to cancer to diabetes. That’s why …