A Wright State University professor is seeking the genetic roots of cleft lips and palates among a remote people in Nepal, according to a story in the Dayton Daily News.
Richard Sherwood, PhD, a professor in the department of pediatrics, is collecting impressions of the teeth of the Jirel people as part of his research into the root causes of craniofacial deformities. The Jirel are an appealing study group for Sherwood because they've had little orthodontic work, according to the Daily News.
Sherwood hopes to collect impressions of the teeth of 1,500 people at a dental clinic in the town of Jiri. He'll then bring those impressions to Wright State University's Lifespan Health Research Center, where they'll be scanned and measured using an automated system developed by Mathew Thomas, a graduate student of Julie Skipper, PhD, a research associate professor with the Wright State Research Institute.
Sherwood is looking for asymmetries in the development of the human palate, which develops in the womb much as lips do. The project could also provide new insights on dental crowding, he told the Daily News.
