Dr. Ana Bedran-Russo a U of IL at Chicago Researcher of the Year

CHICAGO - Feb. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- The University of Illinois at Chicago Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) has announced the recipients of the 2014 UIC Researcher of the Year awards. In the Clinical Sciences category, Dr. Ana Bedran-Russo, Associate Professor, Restorative Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, was named a Rising Star.

         These honors recognize the efforts and commitment of scholars who have demonstrated outstanding research and scholarly achievements to advance knowledge in their field of expertise.

         She had been nominated by Dr. Luisa A. DiPietro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research.

         “It is truly an honor to be a recipient of this award, being selected among great UIC research colleagues in the clinical sciences,” Dr. Bedran-Russo said. “It is amazing recognition of my research, the research done in the College of Dentistry, and the impact of oral health research.”

         Dr. Bedran-Russo’s research focuses on bio-inspired strategies to enhance the properties of the tooth for prevention and restorative/ reparative applications. Her discoveries have tremendous implications for oral and overall human health, as rather than removing diseased tooth structure and replacing it with materials dissimilar to natural teeth, patients will have treatment options that help them remain free of dental decay.

The chemical compounds she studies, called proanthocyanidins, are plant derived from renewable resources like seeds, bark, and leaves. The significance of her work has been recognized by numerous grants including a National Institutes of Health (NIH) K08 and R01.

“Success in research relies on interdisciplinary work,” Dr. Bedran-Russo explained. “I have been lucky to have found great collaborators just across the street in the College of Pharmacy and more recently with the UIUC [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] Beckman Institute. Research discoveries become limitless when you work with a group. We have led all the current work on bioinspired strategies to modify dental hard tissue using plant-derived proanthocyanidns.”

The compounds interact with collagen and other non-collagenous components in the dentin matrix, “basically enhancing the tissue's mechanical properties and biostability, so the tooth becomes literally stronger,” Dr Bedran-Russo said. “There are many clinical applications to this biomimetic approach. We hope to reduce significantly the breakdown at the interface between restorative materials and dentin.

“This would result in a significant decrease in costs associated with replacement of failed restorative treatments,” she continued. “We have also explored their protective effect of root surfaces to reduce caries progression and promote remineralization.”

In honor of the recipients of the UIC Researchers of the Year, an awards ceremony and reception will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. in the Thompson Rooms of Student Center West of UIC at 828 S. Wolcott Ave. For more information, log on to http://research.uic.edu/roy/rsvp.