Editorial Board

Anthony Vernillo, DDS, MBE, PhD

Dr. Vernillo is Professor Emeritus of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Radiology and Medicine at the New York University College of Dentistry.

He has received numerous teaching awards during his 30+ years of teaching. His current research and scholarship is in Bioethics, including oral fluid diagnostics and proposed property rights to oral fluids, confidentiality and privacy, informed consent, biobanking of oral fluid specimens, HIV testing in dentistry, and design of clinical research trials.

Babak Sarrafpour, PhD

Dr. Babak Sarrafpour is a lecturer in the Discipline of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Diagnostics at University of Sydney in Australia.

He completed his PhD at The University of Sydney in 2013, studying the biomechanical and biological aspects of tooth movement. Their group established a new biomechanics-based theory for tooth eruption by using advanced computer modelling with 3D finite element analysis. They proposed a mechanosensory role for dental follicle soft tissue during tooth eruption and also developed a novel analytical method that relates tension or compression, as seen in soft tissues in finite element analysis, to the biological response in adjacent bone. He has also been involved in teaching and coordinating Oral Pathology courses based on the Clinico-Pathological Enquiry Based Learning (CPEBL) model for DMD and BOH students at The University of Sydney.

Frank Rimalovski

Frank is the founder and executive director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, and the managing director of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund.

He has more than 20 years of experience in early-stage venture capital investing, spinouts and technology commercialization. He is also the co-author of the book Talking to Humans and has served as an Instructor for the NSF’s I-Corps program. Frank holds a BA from Tufts University and a MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Kishore Chaudhry, MBBS, MD, DNB

Dr. Kishore Chaudhry MBBS, MD, DNB, is Associate Professor in College of Dental Medicine, Roseman University of Health Sciences, Henderson, Nevada.

Dr. Chaudhry has 30+ years of experience in cancer and tobacco research in India and USA. He has extensive experience in research planning, execution and analysis. He carried out several projects with innovative methodology. He has been a part of more than 100 expert committees (global and India). He has contributed in formulation of several health related policies. His current interests are oral cancers and orthodontic research.

Laura Susana Acosta-Torres, DDS, PhD

Dr. Acosta-Torres earned her DDS from the Faculty of Dentistry of the Autonomous University in Mexico (UNAM), and her Ph.D. cum laude in Science from the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the Faculty of Dentistry UNAM. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomaterials and Nanotechnology.

Dr. Acosta-Torres is Dean and Professor at the National School of Higher Studies Leon Campus, and she belongs to the National Researchers System of CONACYT Level 1. Her research focuses on obtaining metal nanoparticles for the development of novel biomaterials for the inhibition of microorganisms that cause oral infections.

Dr. Acosta-Torres is a member of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), the National Society of Dentistry Researchers (SNIO), the Mexican Federation of Dental Faculties and Schools (FMFEO) and of the Latin-American Federation of Dental Faculties and Schools (OFEDO).

Tim Bromage, PhD

Dr. Bromage is a hard tissue biologist of the Department of Biomaterials, New York University College of Dentistry.

Environmental and evolutionary studies are key to many of Dr. Bromage’s pursuits, including microanatomical correlates of bone and tooth development, enamel and bone growth rate variability in respect to environmental change, skeletal inorganic chemistry research, and chronobiological rhythms in bone microstructure corresponding to enamel formation rhythms in mammals, establishing the basis for understanding how chronobiology and organismal life history evolution are integrated.

Serafim Oliveira, BS, MS, PhD

Dr. Oliveira studied materials engineering at the University of Porto – Portugal.

After several years working as process engineer in industry he went back to the university. In 2008 he obtained is PhD in Biomedical engineering from INEB/Porto and New York University where he studied bone cement injectability and endochondral bone formation. In 2010 he was appointed as professor at Polytechnic Institute of Viseu.

Yihong Li, DDS, MPH, DrPH

Dr. Li is a leader in molecular epidemiology of oral microbiota and early childhood caries.

She pioneered techniques for genomic DNA fingerprinting of oral bacteria; conducted a series of clinical studies demonstrating that mothers are the major transmitters of cariogenic microbiota to their children. She was also one of the first to propose and demonstrate that caries-associated microbiota become less diverse compared to caries-free individuals. She also showed that chronic periodontal inflammation is associated with increased risk of oral and gastric cancers.

Zoya Kurago, DDS, PhD

Dr. Kurago is a board-certified Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist at the Augusta University Dental College of Georgia and Medical College of Georgia.

Her research focuses on the functions of the innate immune system and inflammation in disorders of bone and mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract. Dr. Kurago’s recent work provides insights into the signaling role of toll-like receptors in promoting growth of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Arezou Khosroshahi, MD

Dr. Khosroshahi is a rheumatologist trained at Massachusetts General Hospital.

She currently serves as the Associate Program Director for Rheumatology Fellowship at Emory University. Her research is focused on IgG4-RD and lupus. She is the principle investigator for multiple clinical trials in lupus.

Alpdoğan Kantarci, DDS, PhD

Dr. Kantarci is a board certified specialist of Periodontology and a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology.

He works at the Forsyth Institute and serves as a faculty member at Harvard University and Boston University. His research interests include Molecular Mechanisms and Resolution Pathways of Inflammation, Biological Mechanisms of Accelerated Orthodontics, Salivary Diagnostics of Systemic Diseases, and Clinical Applications of High-Throughput Analysis.

Stefan Judex, PhD

Stefan Judex, PhD specializes in biomechanics and molecular biology.

He is currently Director of the Integrative Skeletal Adaptation and Genetics Laboratory and Professor/Interim Chair in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University. Translational and basic research in his laboratory revolves around the genetic, molecular, and physical processes by which altered mechanical demand modulates the quantity and quality of the musculoskeleton.

Hatice Hasturk, DDS, PhD

Dr. Hatice Hasturk is a board-certified Periodontist and an Associate Member of the Staff at the Department of Applied Oral Sciences and the Director of Center for Clinical and Translational Research Center at the Forsyth Institute.

Her research is focused on the mechanisms connecting periodontitis and systemic inflammatory diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and treatment of periodontal diseases by regulation of inflammatory response.

Ada Cavalcanti-Adam, DMD, MSci, PhD

Dr. Cavalcanti-Adam is research group leader at the University of Heidelberg and Head of the Central Scientific Facility “Cellular Biotechnology” at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg.

She is a leader in the field of mechanobiology of cell adhesion. Her work has shown how receptor clustering regulates cellular forces that are necessary for cells to adhere to the extracellular environment. She developed novel surface chemistry functionalization methods combined with biophysical techniques for the measurement of molecular and cellular forces.

Zoubin Alikhani, MD, FACC, FHRS

Dr. Zoubin Alikhani is a Harvard trained cardiologist with extensive subspecialized training in Cardiac Electrophysiology (EP).

His research in the field of cardiology and arrhythmias has led to many presentations at different conferences including the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). As the Director of Arrhythmia Services at Atlanta Heart Specialists he is a world expert in the management of complex cardiac arrhythmias especially atrial fibrillations and ventricular tachycardias. His research in the field has led to new innovations and techniques in the imaging modalities used to facilitate the complex ablations.

Sonia Patricia Plaza, DDS, MS, Ortho Cert.

Dr. Plaza is an Orthodontist with training in Epidemiology.

She currently serves as a Research Coordinator in the Orthodontics Department for UniCIEO where she conducts clinical research in Orthodontics.