The group was led by internationally recognised dental scientist Bing Hu. Bing was one of the key speakers at the conference. His presentation was entitled ‘Molecular control of tooth epithelial stem cell maintenance and transition’ and covered the role of dental stem cells in the regeneration of teeth. His research in Plymouth covers three main areas: oral cancer and stem cells, hair development and skin cancer and craniofacial development and tissue engineering.
His work is internationally recognised and has been published in leading scientific journals such as Cell and Genes & Development.
Bing was accompanied by four PhD students working in the field of dental and craniofacial research at PUPSMD – Jemma Walker, Donald Singer, Portia Grayson and Jonathan Davies.
Jemma said: “Being able to meet with so many published researchers, whose papers I have read as part of my studies, was really valuable. Discussing issues with the invited speakers in person offered me new insights into the work that is going on within our field.”
Donald added: “It was interesting to see in which direction the current research strategy in our field is heading, especially with regard to tooth regeneration.”
Bing commented: “It was a very exciting conference with almost all the important groups in the craniofacial and dental stem cell research field in attendance. We have been able to establish new collaborations with a couple of world leading groups to complete several ongoing projects. In addition, we have agreed several new joint projects for grant applications and high quality research publications.”