Rochester Oral Biology Research Conference

Saliva and Salivary Gland Function

June 26-28, 2008  

Oral Biology Research at the University of Rochester Medical Center

80 Years of Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowships

Please join us in celebrating 80 years of oral biology research and training at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The University of Rochester’s Dental Research Fellowship Program, the first program in this country to support research and training of dentists in those fields of dentistry related to the basic sciences, was established in the late 1920’s by Nobel Laureate and Dean of the School of Medicine & Dentistry, Dr. George Whipple. The oral biology research training program eventually developed into the Department of Dental Research in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 1998, the Department of Dental Research, renamed the Center for Oral Biology, joined five other research centers to form the Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences. Today, the Center for Oral Biology consists of several interdisciplinary research teams, which integrate and blend aspects of biochemistry, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, physiology, pharmacology and structural biology to explore important problems of craniofacial, dental and oral biology.
 
The 2008 Rochester Oral Biology Research Conference will showcase cutting edge research in the field of salivary gland biology and will feature the William H. Bowen and Lawrence A. Tabak Lectureships.  We look forward to your attendance at the conference, a great opportunity to investigate the latest advances in oral biology research and to renew old friendships.

William H. Bowen Lectureship

Welcher Professor Emeritus of Dentistry in the Center for Oral Biology; Professor Emeritus of Microbiology & Immunology; Professor Emeritus of Environmental Medicine

Dr. William H. Bowen, a native of Ireland, received his BDS from the National University of Ireland in 1955. He completed an MS in Dental Science from the University of Rochester in 1959 prior to defending his PhD thesis at the University of London in 1965. Dr. Bowen was recruited to Chair the Department of Dental Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in 1982 after directing the Caries Prevention and Research Branch of the National Institute of Dental Research for 10 years. 

Dr. Bowen has had a tremendous impact on oral health research.  He has published over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals. These are seminal works assessing the cariogenic potential of foodstuffs, evaluating the effects of commonly used pharmaceutical agents on salivary function and caries susceptibility, and demonstrating in animal models Dr. Bowen’s theory that children with high incidence of dental caries, results in part, from exposure to heavy metals such as lead.

Dr. Bowen’s contributions to the advancement of dentistry go well beyond his research efforts.  He was elected President of both the American Association for Dental Research and the International Association. He has trained a second generation of dental scientists, and in the process, reinvigorated dental academics at the University of Rochester. 

Dr. Bowen’s work has been acknowledged around the world.  He is the recipient of five honorary degrees, the most recent of which is the Doctor of Medicine from Trinity College, Dublin.  Among his many other honors, he has received the Yngve Ericsson’s prize in Preventive Odontology from the Swedish Patent Fund, and the ADA’s Gold Metal Research Award. Dr. Bowen has also been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Lawrence A. Tabak Lectureship

Larry Tabak
Director, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak was appointed as the seventh director of the NIDCR in September 2000. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Tabak was the senior associate dean for research, Director of the Center for Oral Biology and professor of dentistry and biochemistry & biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester in New York.

Dr. Tabak is leading the current NIH initiative to enhance peer review. He is also a co-chair of the Research Teams of the Future component of the NIH Roadmap that emphasizes new ways of doing team science to catalyze additional multi- and interdisciplinary research. Dr. Tabak serves as co-chair of the NIH-wide Pain Consortium and is a member of the NIH Steering Committee, the governance body of the agency, serving as co-chair of the Information Technology Working Group.

A former NIH MERIT recipient, Dr. Tabak continues to lead an active research group studying glycoprotein biosynthesis and function in addition to his administrative duties.

The NIDCR director has received numerous honors for his work, including being elected a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dr. Tabak received his undergraduate degree from City College of the CUNY, his D.D.S. from Columbia University, and both a Ph.D. and certificate of proficiency in endodontics from the SUNY at Buffalo.