Mey Al-Habib DScD 12, ENDO 14 Receives AAE Foundation Research Grant
Mey Al-Habib DScD 12, ENDO 14 was recently awarded an American Association of Endodontists (AAE) Foundation research grant in the amount of $32,250. The grant supports her research proposal titled, “Characterization of Subpopulations of Dental Pulp Stem Cells.”
Dr. Al-Habib is working on this research with her research advisor and mentor Herbert Schilder Professor in Endodontics and Director of the Advanced Specialty Education Program in Endodontics Dr. George Huang.
“The goal of this research is to thoroughly understand and profile different subpopulations of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs),” said Dr. Al-Habib. “Up until this point there has been a lack of studies on the specific subpopulations of hDPSCs and by defining the characteristics of each subpopulation, we hope to identify the different uses of each group in dentin and pulp tissue regeneration.”
Upon completion of the research Dr. Al-Habib will submit her findings for publication in the Journal of Endodontics and for presentation at the AAE Annual Session.
This is Dr. Al-Habib’s first experience conducting stem cell research and she is the first DScD student to join Dr. Huang’s lab. Both came to Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) in September of 2009. Dr. Huang has completed extensive research in this field and thought Dr. Al-Habib would be an excellent student to tackle this aspect of stem cell research.
He added, “Mey’s credentials show that she is a very outstanding student. She excelled academically at the undergraduate level and she has experience teaching.”
Dr. Al-Habib is currently an endodontic faculty member of the faculty of Dentistry of King Abdulaziz University, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Upon completion of her DScD degree and CAGS in Endodontics at GSDM she will return to the University in the role of Assistant Professor.