Dr. Pouran Famili is full professor in periodontics, and also full professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. She holds the doctorate in epidemiology and the master’s degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh, where she has been on the periodontics faculty thirty years. She is board-certified in periodontics and in implantology. She is the past chair of the department from 2005-2015 and past director of the nine residents in periodontics during that time period and before. She has served dentistry with distinction, becoming Diplomate in periodontics and implantology, and fellow in many professional societies. She maintains active research in issues of periodontal and systemic health, and has taken pleasure to mentor the careers of periodontics residents and dental students. She is active in academic dentistry, currently as site visitor for the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

Dr. Pouran Famili research interest focuses on relationship between periodontal disease and osteoporosis, and subsequently the effects of osteoporosis on dental implant survival.

PubMed

Dr. James C. Ragain, Jr. currently appointed as Associate Professor in Restorative Dentistry, he is the Director of Continuing Dental Education, Director of the Biomaterials Division of the Restorative Dentistry Department, and he is the director for two undergraduate dental biomaterials courses. He attended the University of Tennessee- Knoxville earning the Bachelor of Science degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Biological Sciences in 1976. Immediately after college and prior to entering dental school, he served as a health care administrator in the U.S. Army. After receiving his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) in 1984, Dr. Ragain was commissioned in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps. During his tenure in the Navy he completed postgraduate programs in Operative Dentistry (Master of Science degree in Restorative Dentistry, University of Michigan) and Oral Biology/Dental Materials (Doctor of Philosophy degree, The Ohio State University). While in the Navy, he served in numerous senior administrative positions in clinical dentistry and dental research, and he held several adjunct faculty positions. Among those assignments, he directed the largest Operative Dentistry department in the Navy (Naval Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, IL), and he commanded the Naval Dental Research Institute/ Naval Institute for Dental and Biomedical Research for four years. Dr. Ragain retired from the Navy in 2013 at the rank of Captain and became a faculty member of the College of Dentistry, UTHSC. He authored or co-authored over 75 professional publications, and he holds three U.S. patent awards. He is on the editorial board of four professional journals, and he served on a joint IOM-NASA subcommittee studying dental issues and treatment of astronauts deployed on long-term space missions. Dr. Ragain has served as a member of the UTHSC College of Dentistry Alumni Board of Trustees for eleven years. An active member of the board, he has held several official board positions. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and the American College of Dentists.

Dr. James C. Ragain, Jr. research interest is in Biomaterials research, which includes color science,direct and indirect esthetic materials, and biological effects of biomaterials.

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Dr. Farhad Vahidi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Prosthodontics at the New York University College of Dentistry. He is former Program Director for the Advanced Education Program in Prosthodontics and the Advanced Program for International Dentists in Prosthodontics. He did his M.S.D. in Prosthodontics from New York University College of Dentistry (1976). Dr. Vahidi is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics and Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontics, Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics, New York Academy of Dentistry and the Northeastern Gnathological Society. He has published many articles in peer review dental Journals and presented in many national and international oral health organizations on the subjects of ceramics, implant dentistry and interdisciplinary dentistry.

Dr. Farhad Vahidi research interest includes Ceramics, digital dentistry, Occlusion, Materials.

PubMed

Dr. Harry G. Meeker is currently appointed as Associate Professor in NYU College of Dentistry. He attended the Iona College earning the Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, minor in Chemistry (1964-1968). He completed his Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D) from Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Dental Medicine Teaneck, NJ (1968-1972). Dr. Harry G. Meeker received many honours and awards like 35 years NYUCD Service Award 2013. He photographed 700 cavity preparations of patients which were used for faculty and student standardization.

Dr. Harry G. Meeker research interest includes Oral health status, Home based primary care service in elderly; special care in Dentistry. Pouring crown and bridge impressions, Antibacterial properties of Dycal and visible-light-cured Dycal, essential oils used in dentistry, Stabilization of periodontally involved carious teeth, management of the gag reflex in full denture patients, Germicidal Properties of dental cavity liners, bases, and cements, repairing voids at cavosurface-composite resin margins.

PubMed

Dr. Yu Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Monash University, Australia in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, he worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. Dr. Zhang received two R01 grants from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2007 and 2012, respectively, and a research grant from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2008, as well as several industrial grants. He is the recipient of the Arthur R. Frechette Award from the Prosthodontic society of International Association of Dental Research in 2007. Dr. Zhang has published over 80 high impact journal articles and book chapters. He also holds 3 US patents.

Dr. Yu Zhang’s research interests include the development of functionally graded ceramic restorative materials for damage resistance, aesthetics and bioactivities; and mechanical reliability, fatigue damage assessment and lifetime prediction for biomechanical structures—all-ceramic dental crowns and ceramic hip components.

PubMed

Dr. Valyi is an assistant professor and acting head of the Department of Periodontology. He is also head of the dental hygienist program at the Faculty of Dentistry. Dr. Peter Valyi graduated with DMD degree from the Szent-Gyorgyi Albert Medical University of Szeged in 1993. He earned his Specialist degree in the Dental and Oral diseases in 1995, in Periodontology 2001 and in Conservative and Prosthetic Dentistry in 2004. He received his PhD degree from University of Szeged in 2014. He supervised more than 30 graduate students and specialist training fellow. He was a leader of the project for development and introduction of the BSc level dental hygienist education in Hungary supported by EC. Dr. Valyi bibliography includes 130 publications of which 23 are in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of dentistry and periodontology. He is author of book-chapters and editor of book. He is ad-hoc reviewers of journals and grant associations. Dr. Valyi is a member of the IADR, EFP and board member of the Hungarian Dental Associations and Vice President of the Hungarian Society of Periodontology.

Dr. Peter Valyi research interest includes effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy, new innovations in non-surgical periodontal therapy, monogenic origin periodontal diseases, application of fiber-reinforced composite in the occlusal periodontal therapy.

PubMed

Dr. Kabilan Velliyagounder is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology. He received his Ph.D. from University of Madras, Chennai, India. He started his first postdoctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. In 1997 he started his second postdoctoral research in South Korea. Kabilan joined the Department of Oral Biology at New Jersey Dental School in 1999. He is working on host-pathogen interaction studies focusing specifically on lactoferrin and their effect on oral diseases. He is also working on different Lf hybrid peptides and testing their effects on various microorganisms. In addition, Kabilan has successfully identified a naturally occurring group of organosulfur compounds with a significant potential to be used as an alternative therapy to treat oral and systemic diseases.

Dr. Kabilan Velliyagounder Research Interest includes Periodontal and caries research, Experimental animal models and transgenic Alternative therapy.

PubMed