Dr. Atari was invited by Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, the Director of the Stem Cell Institute at KU Leuven, one of the world's leading stem-cell research centres.

The UIC research team, led by Dr. Maher Atari and directed by Dr. Lluís Giner, the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, established a protocol to isolate and identify subpopulations of dental pulp pluripotent-like stem cells (DPPSCs), which have a genetic profile similar to that of embryonic stem cells, but in adult cells (OCT3/4+, NANOG+, SOX2+, LIN28+).

The study was published in the prestigious Journal of Cell Science, which was founded at Cambridge and has a high impact index. Previously, advances in the study were published in Bone Journal (Harvard) and Histology & Pathology.

The study has demonstrated in vitro the ability of DPPSCs to produce tissues with characteristics associated with the mesoderm, the endoderm and the ectoderm (osteoblasts, hepatocytes and neurons). The study could reach the clinical phase and one day demonstrate the regeneration of bone, neuronal and liver cells, thereby leading to a multitude of therapeutic possibilities.