Centers and Facilities
This center has a long history of working with industry to develop research protocols, perform basic scientific and clinical studies for new product introduction and/or product enhancement, coordinate multicenter research, and facilitate technology transfer to industr.
This group focuses on research questions that revolve around pain, function, diagnosis, and classification. The research activities take place within three laboratories for primary data collection: neurosensory, biomechanics, and psychophysiology.
The focus of this center's research program is on understanding, prediction, and control of biological adhesion. Multidisciplinary approaches from physical chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics address challenges related to biofouling, biomaterials, and model tissues.
Areas of interest in this center include soft tissue laser surgery, hard tissue (dental) interactions, endodontic interactions and therapy, and the development of laser techniques for cancer detection and treatment.
Having identified diabetes, smoking, the presence of periodontal pathogens, stress, distress, and coping measures as potential risk factors for periodontal disease, this center's current activities include longitudinal studies to firmly establish risk factors, and intervention studies directed at modulating risk factors within populations at risk for periodontal disease.
This center is set up to provide a rapid response to the analytical needs of academia and industry, offering a full service facility with emphasis on surface imaging and spectroscopy.