Swallowing pills means medication must face the challenge of surviving the harsh environment of the digestive tract. As a result, people must take larger doses than they need. Using micro and nano-fabrication techniques developed by the computer chip industry, Desai’s lab is creating tiny devices that take multiple drugs directly to where they are needed, using less medication, minimizing side effects and making the process safer for the patient. 

In the era of prostate cancer screening, mortality rates have fallen 40 percent. The price of that has been over-diagnosis and over-treatment, something the current health care system cannot sustain. One of the major goals of Cooperberg’s research is to develop better risk assessment tools and instruments that can give the patient and doctor more confidence that the patient’s cancer will not progress.

By understanding the underlying biological processes that allow teeth to continuously grow in rodents and other mammals, Klein’s research aims to apply those principles to regenerative medicine in humans. Klein predicts that one day patients will be able to replace their own lost teeth with living, biological replicas instead of the prosthetics oral surgeons implant today.

Many researchers are finding that by the time a patient seeks treatment for symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, it’s often too late for the available drugs to have an effect. Boxer’s lab is studying very precise eye tracking methods to gauge mental fitness and identify cognitive decline decades before the first symptoms appear.

Having developed an algorithm that discovered a large quantity of drug-producing bacteria in and on humans, Fischbach has turned his lab’s attention to studying their populations and interactions with each other. This, he posits, can greatly influence a person’s overall health and disease.

Each year, scores of soldiers wounded by explosives suffer from debilitating nerve injuries that render their arms and legs useless. Kim’s research, performed at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs hospital, has led to development of artificial nerve grafts to accelerate healing of these injuries.

With years of sleep research under her belt, Lee has recently focused on helping parents — especially new and expecting mothers — get enough sleep. From these studies, Lee has found worrisome correlations between sleep deprivation during pregnancy and increased instances of Cesarean operations and length of labor. By educating families about proper sleep hygiene, she hopes to promote healthier home environments for mothers and babies.