Money matters in a research institution. It keeps the lights on and the air conditioning running. It buys the chemicals and the enzymes, the centrifuges and the digital cameras. It pays tuition for graduate students and salaries for technicians, administrative support and faculty. 

At a research institution like the CCMB, much of this financial support comes from grant money that is awarded to individual investigators. CCMB faculty write and submit grant proposals to funding sources such as the federal government's National Institutes of Health and private foundations. Most of their proposals center on scientific investigation but others are aimed at educational endeavors, both the training of graduate students as well as teachers and minority students from the local community. 

Total grant support for the CCMB has risen steadily over the past few years. Much of the growth in support has been accomplished by junior faculty who benefit from the climate at the CCMB where junior and senior faculty alike have been working diligently to get their projects funded. The success of CCMB investigators in receiving external research support is mirrored by the gains of the Dental School overall. According to the NIH's Office of Extramural Research, USC School of Dentistry ranks 6th in the nation for NIH funding. Among private universities, USCSD fmishes first. 

What follows is a listing of currently funded investigators and the institutions that have supported their grants. For more details, please visit USC's Contracts and Grants web site at: www.usc.edu/dept/contracts/ 

Grant Support by Institution 

American Heart Association. Western States
Matt Lee (Lung Morphogenesis) 

American Lung Association. New York
Jing-Song Zhao (Lung Morphogenesis) 

National Center for Research Resources
Charles Shuler (High School Outreach) 

National Institute of Dental and Cranial-Facial Research
Yang Chai (Mandibular Morphogenesis)
David Crowe (Oral Cancer) 
Alan Fincham (Enamel Biomineralization) 
Yi-Hsin Liu (Cranial Suture Formation, Msx) 
Janet Moradian Oldak (Enamel Biomineralization)
Michael Paine (Amelogenin Genetics)
Charles Shuler (Palate Formation) 
Malcolm Snead (Training Grant, Amelogenin Genetics, VonEbner's Gland)
Maggie Zeichner-David (Cementum and PDL Formation) 

National Heart. Lunq, and Blood Institute
Matt Lee (Lung Morphogenesis) 
David Warburton (Lung Morphogenesis) 
Carol Wuenschell (Nicotine and Lung Development)
Jing-Song Zhao (Lung Morphogenesis) 

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation
Steve Yen (Bone Distraction Techniques) 

State of California
Charles Shuler (Health Care Analysis) 

UC Berkeley - Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program
Carol Wuenschell (Nicotine and Lung Development) 

U.S. Army Med. Res. & Develooment Committee
Yi-Hsin Liu (Cranial Suture Formation, Msx)