Brazil’s Dr. Alyne Simões Spending a Year at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
As part of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry’s global outreach, Dr. Alyne Simões, a faculty member at the School of Dentistry at the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, is spending a year on a Fellowship at the College in the laboratory of Dr. Luisa A. DiPietro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Director of the Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration, and Professor of Periodontics.
“I was looking to work with a researcher in wound healing,” Dr. Simões explained. Dr. Simões has been studying the effects of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) upon oral mucositis. “I wanted to study the effect of PBMT on skin wounds, learn new techniques, and develop some background. Dr. Pietro’s work is related to skin and oral mucosa wound healing—exactly what I was interested in.”
Dr. Simões’s work is supported by a grant from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, #2016/16332-0). “In addition, the University of São Paulo also is supporting me here in the USA,” she added.
Dr. Simões is working with Dr. DiPietro; Dr. Xiaofeng Zhou, Associate Professor, Periodontics; and Dr. Yang Dai, Associate Professor, Bioengineering, on the “Role of microRNA in Skin wound healing; effects of low level laser therapy and comparative study with oral mucosa healing.”
“In this project, we will explore the microRNAs associated with enhanced wound closure in oral mucosa, and will test the feasibility of accelerating skin wound closure by applying mucosa-specific microRNA to the skin wound,” Dr. Simões said. “This study will provide a foundation for developing novel microRNA-based therapeutic approaches to promote wound closure and/or prevent chronic wounds.”
Dr. Simoes is one of the editors of the book Lasers in Dentistry.
Dr. Simões noted that she has been gratified by the kindness of people at the College, thanking Dr. DiPietro and her lab team, as well as the Department of Periodontics team; Dr. Wendy Cerny, Director of Faculty Affairs; Dr. Lin Chen, Research Assistant Professor, Periodontics; Dr. Salvador Nares, Head of Periodontics; and Dr. Clark Stanford, Dean.
She also thanked her USP colleagues Dr. Waldyr Antonio Jorge, Dean, and Dr. Leonardo Eloy Rodrigues Filho, Head, Department of Biomaterials and Oral Biology, “for allowing me to leave my school activities to perform this project and promote this partnership.” She hopes to facilitate “future projects and the mobility of professors and students from both UIC and USP,” Dr. Simões said.
She also noted she is “delighted” with Chicago. “There are many things to do, see, and be entertained by,” Dr. Simões concluded. “In addition, it is a very beautiful city.”
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
Photos: Dr. Alyne Simoes and her book Lasers in Dentistry.