Faculty Mentors
Every student has a primary mentor and a committee that is composed of at least three other faculty members who guide the students throughout the five or six years of study in the program. Primary mentors meet with students at least once a week. The student must meet with the committee once a semester to report on progress.
Mentors and their areas of research and expertise:
- Olga Baker
- olgabake@buffalo.edu
- Our lab focuses on the regulation of salivary gland tight junctions during normal saliva secretion and under pathological conditions that cause salivary gland dysfunction.
- Libuse Bobek
- lbobek@buffalo.edu
- Antimicrobial activity/mechanism of action of salivary proteins/peptides; regulation of salivary gland-specific gene expression.
- Moon-Il Cho
- mooncho@buffalo.edu
- Role of NFI-C in odontoblast differentiation and survival; Tissue engineering for tooth supporting tissues.
- Terry Connell
- connell@buffalo.edu
- Mucosal immunology; molecular/cellular aspects of immunomodulation; T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages; molecular pathogenesis of Bordetella pertussis and B. bronchiseptica; genetics, biochemistry, and physiology of iron acquisition by bacterial pathogens.
- Ernesto DeNardin
- denardin@buffalo.edu
- Molecular basis of inflammation in oral and related systemic diseases; proteomic studies of chemokine receptors; genetic polymorphisms and oral and related diseases.
Research Profile - Rosemary Dziak
- rdziak@buffalo.edu
- Bone cell metabolism; signal transduction in osteoblastic cells; biomimetics and tissue engineering for bone regeneration.
- Mira Edgerton
- edgerto@buffalo.edu
- Our research group studies how innate immunity protects humans from oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) caused by the commensal fungus Candida albicans. Identification of Candidal proteins whose expression promotes fungal virulence, adhesion and biofilm formation is ongoing in our lab. Research opportunities include 1) mechanisms of antifungal activity of naturally occurring antimicrobial proteins including histatins and defensins; 2) studies to identify Candidal cell wall proteins involved in fungal virulence in a mouse model of OPC; 3) genetic analysis of determinants of C. albicans pathogenicity.
- Robert Genco
- rjgenco@buffalo.edu
- Systemic effects of periodontal infections on diabetes and cardiovascular disease and risk factors for periodontal infections. Clinical trials to test diagnostic and therapeutic modulations for infections, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Tissue engineering approaches to regenerating lost bone and soft tissue.
- Steven Gill
- srgill@buffalo.edu
- Our research interests are centered around microbial pathogens and the impact of human microbial flora on human health and disease. The current emphasis is on the following research projects: 1) virulence determinants of Staphylococcus aureus, 2) evolution of virulence within the Staphylococci, 3) genome diversity of the oral Streptococci and 4) association of oral microbial flora with oral cancer.
- Richard Gronostajski
- rgron@buffalo.edu
- The role of the Nfic gene in tooth root development and the interactions of other NFI genes with Nfic in tooth formation. Signaling pathways in tooth root development and odontogenesis.
- Elaine Haase
- haase@buffalo.edu
- Molecular analysis of Actinobacillus surface proteins.
- Chunhao (Chris) Li
- cli9@buffalo.edu
- Biology and Pathogenesis of Pathogenic Spirochetes.
- W. D. (Scott) McCall
- wdmccall@buffalo.edu
- Mastication, jaw reflexes, motor control, modeling of jaw muscle control, pain, and clinical studies.
- Richard K Ohrbach
- ohrbach@buffalo.edu
- Measurement scales related to pain, psychophysiological laboratory studies of pain-related behavior, and diagnostic pain research.
- Stefan Ruhl
- shruhl@buffalo.edu
- The biological functions of human saliva; role of salivary proteins in host defense; microbial binding to human salivary or cell surface glycoproteins.
- Michael Russell
- russellm@buffalo.edu
- Mucosal immunology in oral disease and other mucosal infections; immunity and vaccine development against dental caries; role of IgA in periodontal disease.
- Frank Scannapieco
- fas1@buffalo.edu
- Salivary/bacterium interactions; molecular mechanisms in oral microbial ecology; effects of oral bacteria on systemic diseases.
- Robert Schifferle
- res@buffalo.edu
- Bacterial polysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides; periodontal clinical research.
- Ashu Sharma
- sharmaa@buffalo.edu
- Molecular genetics of periodontal pathogens; genomic and proteomic analysis of oral pathogen virulence factors.
- Hakimuddin Sojar
- orbhakim@buffalo.edu
- Structure function of various virulence factors from oral pathogens.
- Jean Wactawski-Wende
- jww@buffalo.edu
- Osteoporosis and women's health; epidemiology; clinical trials.
- Bing-Yan Wang
- bwang@buffalo.edu
- Interactions among oral bacteria.
- Shuying (Sheri) Yang
- sy47@buffalo.edu
- Mechanism of bone resorpton and bone formation and osteoimmunology; Gene therapy and stem cell mediated periodontal and craniofacial bone regeneration.
- Joseph Zambon
- jjzambon@buffalo.edu
- Clinical studies of oral bacteria and basic research on oral gram-negative species.
“I was sure I was going to be able to do anything I wanted because of the flexibility of the department. It is open to any research possible.”