Research Areas
Interdisciplinary Oral Science Research
The College of Dentistry has a proud history of working across disciplines and leading breakthroughs in biological and biomaterials sciences to advance scientific knowledge and improve the health of our patients beyond the clinic.
Craniofacial Pathobiology
Investigations of processes that occur within cells and tissues to maintain health and control growth and development; understanding how alterations (genetic/environmental) result in disease (cancer). Study of microbiome/host interactions.
Research Areas
- Virology
- Caries Research
- Bioinformatics
- Sleep Medicine
- Cancer Biology
- Periodontal Disease
- Anthropology & Evolution
- Developmental/Craniofacial Biology
Regenerative Science
Activities at the basic and translational level that span needs from the repair of damaged and diseased tissues to the growth of cells/tissues to replace lost tissues. Study of how materials interact with living tissues; building of tissue replacements.
Our research centers including the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration (CWHTR) and the Laboratory of Applied Dental Biomaterials and Interfaces are leading investigations into how materials interact with living tissues, and the building of tissue replacements for the growth of cells/tissues to replace lost tissues.
Research Areas
- Biomaterials
- Immunology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Bio-engineering
- Diabetes
- Wound Healing
- Dental Implants
- Oral Microbiology
Clinical, Translational & Community
Study of safety and efficacy of drugs, devices, and treatments in individuals; and investigating how and why efforts to promote oral health through intervention are accepted by communities. Study of incidence and prevalence of disease; measuring outcomes of interventions.
We have several centers including the Clinical Research Center, Implant & Innovation Center, Oral Medicine and Pharmacognosy Research (OMPR) Laboratory and the Dental Medicine Responder Training (DMRT) focused on the study of the incidence and prevalence of disease; measuring outcomes of interventions; and safety and efficacy of drugs, devices, and treatments in individuals.
Research Areas
- Behavioral Science
- Community Health & Outreach
- Educational Research
- Functional Foods & Natural Products
- Global Health Security
- Oral Diagnostics
- Prevention & Public Health
Dr. Jose Iriarte-Diaz
Dr. Jose Iriarte-Diaz currently studies the biomechanics of feeding and the evolution of the craniofacial system in mammals, and in 2015, he won an IgNoble Prize–awarded to work that “makes you laugh, and then think”–for his research on how dinosaurs move.
He attached “tails” — wooden sticks — to a dozen chickens in Chile, and then studied how the tails affected their movement. The finding? Having a tail changed the birds’ center of mass, just as it would have affected the movement of the chickens’ dinosaur ancestors.
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I can work in multiple labs and centers along-side research experts from all over the world, solving big problems in oral and general health.