Dr. Le’s research focuses on investigating mesenchymal stem cells from adult oral tissues. Together with collaborators, she isolated and characterized adult stem cells from gingival tissue—a discovery she patented while at USC. Studying those stem cells further, Dr. Le proposed a new mechanism by which they might aid in wound healing; they proposed that the stem cells may modify the environment of the wound. This new concept, that stem cells are the conductors rather than the musicians in the orchestra of wound repair, earned Dr. Le and her colleagues NIH funding and a wealth of new avenues of research to explore, all aimed at regenerating missing craniofacial tissue.
