Periodontal disease is one of the major reasons for tooth loss in the United States and may be associated with systemic effects, including heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Although tooth retention has greatly improved over the past few decades, a significant percentage of older Americans do not have functional dentitions and only 42.4% of the U.S.

Loss of dental and craniofacial tissues due to disease, injury or genetic disorders negatively affects the quality of life of millions of Americans. Presently, the gold standard in clinical treatment for craniofacial bone defects is autografts and demineralized bone matrix (DBM). Autografts perform exceptionally well, but are known to induce donor site morbidity and DBMs poorly induce regeneration of lost tissue.

In stroke research, the hippocampal acute brain slice preparation is a model for studying how neuronal tissue responds to a hypoxic insult.  Additionally, in diabetes research, pancreatic islets preparation and dynamic loading of oxygen and glucose is critical to understand how hypoxia alters the glucose-insulin response of the pancreas.  However, standard techniques using commercial perfusion chambers cannot accurately provide oxygen delivery and control to model hypoxic conditions.

Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are two major histological types of esophageal cancer.  Incidence of EAC has rapidly increased in America, with a nearly 5-fold increase in Caucasian males.  Factors that attribute to SCC prevalence appear to vary depending on geographic region.  SCC has higher prevalence in central Asia, southern Africa, and some areas of China; nutritional deficiencies, intake of pickled vegetables, nitrosamine-rich or mycotoxin-contaminated foods, and low socioeconomic status may be a factor.  In Europe and Nor

Hepatitis C is a blood‐borne infectious disease that is caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), affecting the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or other complications of cirrhosis, including liver cancer. An estimated 150‐200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), also known as primary liver cancer or hepatoma, is a cancer that ari

UIC researchers have found a novel technology, comprising of a method and a device, for the identifi