RESEARCH AT THE UT HEALTH HOUSTON, KATZ DEPARTMENT OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY

Since 2015, research at the Houston, Katz Department of OMS has been led by Dr. Simon Young, a nationally and internationally recognized OMS Surgeon/Scientist.

Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD, FACS

Associate Professor and Director of Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Katz Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.

Dr. Young is an Associate Professor and Director of Research at the UTHealth Houston, Katz Department of OMS. He completed an integrated Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/MD/PhD Program at Rice University and UTHealth Houston in 2013 and was subsequently awarded a 5-year National Institutes of Health K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award to develop materials-based cancer vaccines for head and neck cancer at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He returned to the Katz Department of OMS at Houston in 2015 as a faculty surgeon-scientist and has clinical trial leadership experience, several NIH-funded research projects in tissue engineering and cancer immunotherapy, and a practice that focuses on treating maxillofacial trauma and pathology.

Dr. Young’s lab, located in the Center for Craniofacial Research at the UTHealth School of Dentistry, performs team-based, highly collaborative biomaterials-focused translational research in two key areas that are ripe for innovation and disruptive technologies in oral and maxillofacial surgery:

Craniomaxillofacial tissue regeneration: Dr. Young and his team are currently working with NYU to study the use of patient-specific 3D printed bioceramic scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration in a preclinical model of compromised wound healing (Fig. 1). Concurrently he is collaborating with UT Arlington in the use of semiconductor-based coatings to enhance the bioactivity of titanium implants for bone. Peripheral nerve regeneration is another interest of the lab, and they are working with Rice University examining the use of peptide hydrogels for nerve regeneration (Fig. 2). Lastly, the lab is helping to develop and characterize salivary microtissue “avatars”, using them as a novel 3D in vitro system for modeling salivary diseases and evaluating their potential to replace salivary tissue damaged by radiation therapy (Fig. 3).

Figure 1

3D-Printed bioceramic porous scaffold (purple) for bone regeneration

Figure 2

Inferior alveolar nerve cross-section stained for myelin in red (A) for axon quantification (B), following resection and repair (C) using an “electrospun” polymer conduit to enhance nerve repair.​

Figure 3

Salivary human stem/progenitor cell + neural cell (green) producing alpha-amylase (red) in a 3D in vitro co-culture system.​

Head and neck cancer immunotherapy: The overall 5-year survival rate for head and neck cancer has not improved much over the last few decades with both conventional multimodal treatment and emerging immunotherapies known to have an adverse (and sometimes fatal) impact on quality of life. We are currently investigating a novel biomaterials-based immunotherapy for head and neck cancer called “SynerGel” with Rice University (Fig. 4). In collaboration with MDACC, we are also determining how it can be used in combination with stand-of-care radiation therapy to reduce treatment toxicity.

Figure 4

SynerGel, an intra-tumoral cancer immunotherapy platform.

These are just some brief examples of the cutting-edge research being performed in the Katz Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Since Dr. Young’s return to the Department and his appointment as the Director of Research in 2015, the Department has generated over $8.1 million in total research grants, published an average of 16 peer-reviewed journal articles a year, and now runs 25 active clinical research protocols at UTHealth. Our Department has truly achieved national and international impact owing to the high quality of our faculty, research output, and academic reputation

With your financial support, we can continue the groundbreaking basic science and clinical research that will revolutionize patient care in the future and maintain our advantage in this highly competitive research funding environment.