Saliva-test researcher gets UCLA endowed chair

Professor David Wong, D.M.D., D.M.Sc. Image courtesy of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry.

The University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry has named oral biology professor David Wong, D.M.D., D.M.Sc., a pioneer in the use of saliva for diagnosing cancer and other diseases, as the first holder of the Felix and Mildred Yip Endowed Professorship in Dentistry.

Dr. Wong developed with colleagues the first standardized saliva-based test for the disease, according to a UCLA press release.

The new chair, created by a $1 million gift from urologist Felix Yip, M.D., and his wife Mildred will support research on oral and head and neck cancers, an area of particular emphasis at the School of Dentistry.

Dr. Wong's lab is currently researching salivary diagnostics for a wide range of illnesses, including pancreatic and lung cancers and type 2 diabetes, and is also involved in a multidisciplinary effort to create a point-of-care device for analyzing the biological markers of disease in saliva.