The Department of Cell and Tissue Biology (CTB) at the UCSF School of Dentistry has active research programs in cell and developmental biology, tissue remodeling and repair, genesis and progression of head and neck cancers, and molecular pathogenesis. Investigators in this department have developed several National Institutes of Health-supported centers and programs over the past decade. These include the Comprehensive Oral Health Research Center, which focuses on strategies for promoting tissue repair; the UCSF Oral Cancer Research Center, which is concerned with the genesis and progression of oral cancer; and, most recently, a project to catalogue the salivary proteome.
The Department of Cell and Tissue Biology is the administrative home for the new UCSF campuswide Program in Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology (CMB). This program focuses on basic and translational research related to cellular and morphogenetic processes underlying development. These include cell migration and proliferation, signaling mechanisms underlying formation of mesenchymal tissues, the role of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in tissue formation, and the properties and differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells. These areas of focus provide strong opportunities for interaction with the UCSF Campuswide Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, with research campuswide in tissue engineering and biomaterials, and with the Craniofacial Anomalies Center in the School of Dentistry.
The department is also one of the founders of the new UCSF campuswide Program in Microbial Pathogenesis. Research within the department related to this area currently focuses on bacterial adherence mechanisms, oral candidiasis, and viral infections in the placenta and immune protection. The Department of Cell and Tissue Biology is collaborating with the departments of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences and of Orofacial Sciences in the School of Dentistry and the Microbial Pathogenesis Program to recruit in the important area of biofilms research.
The Department of Cell and Tissue Biology houses the UCSF Mouse Microarray Consortium. It also is affiliated with the Mass Spectrometry Facility, within UCSF’s Biomolecular Resource Center.
Faculty in Department of Cell and Tissue Biology teach in the Biomedical Sciences course sequence in the DDS predoctoral program, with a focus on human anatomy and embryology, head and neck anatomy, histology and neuroscience. Cell and Tissue Biology faculty members also teach in a number of courses given by graduate programs, including the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program and Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Graduate Program.
The Department of Cell and Tissue Biology is actively recruiting new faculty in the area of Developmental and Molecular Biology related to the CMB Program and in the Microbial Pathogenesis Program.
