The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The institute aims to improve the oral, dental, and craniofacial health through research and the distribution of important health information to the American people.
Martha J. Somerman is an internationally known researcher and educator in medicine, focusing on defining the key regulators controlling development, maintenance, and regeneration of dental, oral, and craniofacial tissues. She was 'Chief Lab of Laboratory of Oral Connective Tissue Biology (LOCTB) at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Ann Linnea Sandberg was an American immunologist and the acting director of the Center for Integrative Craniofacial Research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Previously, Sandberg was a lab chief and researcher for 23 years in the NIH Intramural Research Program at NIDCR.
Pamela Gehron Robey is an American cell biologist. She is a senior investigator in the skeletal biology section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Cultrex Basement Membrane Extract (BME) is the trade name for a extracellular protein mixture secreted by Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) mouse sarcoma cells and manufactured into a hydrogel by R&D Systems, a brand of Bio-Techne. Similar to Matrigel, this hydrogel is a natural extracellular matrix that mimics the complex extracellular environment within complex tissues. It is used as a general cell culture substrate across a wide variety of research applications.
Niki M. Moutsopoulos is a Greek periodontist and immunologist. She is a senior investigator in the oral immunity and infection section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Moutsopoulos specializes in oral immunology and periodontitis. Her research program focuses on host-microbial interactions that can drive chronic inflammatory responses and tissue destruction in the oral cavity.
Deborah E. Citrin is an American clinician-scientist researching pre-clinical and clinical testing of radiation modifiers and the mechanisms of normal tissue injury from radiation. She is a senior investigator and deputy director of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research.
Natalie Porat-Shliom is an Israeli-American cell biologist and microscopist specialized in intravital microscopy to research mitochondrial structure. She is a NIH Stadtman Investigator and head of the cell biology and imaging section at the National Cancer Institute.
Ying E. Zhang is a Chinese-American biochemist specialized in TGF-beta signaling and functions of ubiquitin E3 ligase Smurfs to better understand cancer cells and metastasis. She is a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute.
Marie Ussing Nylen is a Danish-American biologist, dentist, microscopist, and badminton player known for her research on the morphology of tooth enamel and her contributions to refining the electron microscope as an aide in dental research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDR). She was the first woman director of the NIDR's Intramural Research Program. Nylen became director of the NIDR extramural research program in 1984. In 1947 and 1953, she won the women's world singles event at the All England Open Badminton Championship.
Rena D'Souza is a clinician-scientist and the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. She was formerly the assistant vice president for academic affairs and education for health sciences at the University of Utah where she was also a Professor of Dentistry in the School of Dentistry and a Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy in the School of Medicine.
Marian Frances Young is an American developmental biologist researching the function of extracellular matrix proteins in skeletal tissues. She is the deputy scientific director of the division of intramural research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Claudia M. Palena is an American-Argentine immunologist and cancer researcher. She is head of the immunoregulation section at the National Cancer Institute. Palena researches tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy.
Ophir David Klein is an American developmental biologist who specializes in pediatric medical genetics. Klein is Executive Director of Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, Vice Dean for Children’s Services, Professor of Pediatrics, and the David and Meredith Kaplan Distinguished Chair in Children’s Health. He is also a professor of Orofacial Sciences and Pediatrics at UCSF.
Marisela Morales is a Mexican neuroscientist specializing in the neurobiology of drug addiction. She is a senior investigator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Lawrence A. Tabak is an American dentist and biomedical scientist serving as the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. He served as acting director from 2021 to 2023. Previously he was the director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000 to 2010.
Jennifer Y. Webster-Cyriaque is an American dentist and immunologist specializing in the oral microbiome, salivary gland disease in patients with HIV, and cancer-causing viruses. She became the deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in November 2020. Webster-Cyriaque was a faculty member at UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the UNC School of Medicine for 21 years.
Kelly Greig Ten Hagen is an American glycobiologist and head of the developmental glycobiology section at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. She studies O-glycosylation regulation and its relationship to human disease.
Deborah Kay Morrison is an American cell biologist who is the chief of the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Signaling at the National Cancer Institute. She conducts research characterizing the RAS pathway and the RAF family kinases and leads efforts to design new therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.
A. Isabel Garcia is an American dentist and academic administrator serving as dean of the University of Florida College of Dentistry since 2015. She was deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) from 2007 to 2014. Garcia was the acting NIDCR director from 2010 to 2011. She was a Rear Admiral Lower Half in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
