Potential Faculty Mentors

Potential Faculty Mentors have listed their research projects in order to seek possible research collaboration with one or more Dental Hygiene or Dentistry Students.

Potential Mentors

To list projects for possible student collaboration, complete the Application for Listing as a Potential Research Mentor.

Faculty Name: Xi Chen, DDS, PhD

As a clinician-scientist, my research focuses on oral-systemic health interactions in older adults with complex medical histories. Specifically,  for patients with terminal illnesses, my work aims to understand their dental treatment needs and care preferences, which is essential to ensure the quality of care for this vulnerable patient population. I'm also working with OSU's palliative care and oncology teams to integrate oral health care into their practices, providing much-needed preventive care to those who otherwise have no access to regular dental care during their medical visits. For older adults with cognitive impairment, my work aims to understand how cognitive impairment affects oral self-care and other dental-related functions, and to develop functionally tailored oral health interventions to support patients and their caregivers.

Faculty Name: Tammy Duangthip, DDS, MSc, PhD

On-going research: 

  1. Impact of community-based Dental Education on the Graduates’ Practice Preference and Awareness to Care for Underserved Populations (ongoing project funded by Kirwan Institute, 2024-2025) 
  2. Childsmile@OH: improve access to dental care in Ohio (ODA foundation, waiting for the grant notification) 
    1. describe the oral health status of children and its related factors in the Headstart Program in Ohio
    2. describe the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based dental program with SDF in Ohio
  3. Sports drinks and oral health: a systematic review (ongoing collaborative project with the University of Hong Kong) 
  4. Clinical trial of silver diamine fluoride with light curing (ongoing collaborative project with Chulalongkorn University, Thailand) 

Faculty Name: Brian Foster, PhD

My overarching objective as a researcher in the dental-oral-craniofacial field is to understand the molecular mechanisms driving tooth root formation and bring that insight to novel approaches for regenerating tissues and restoring function. To date, specific areas of inquiry have included phosphate/pyrophosphate metabolism and dentoalveolar development and regeneration, developmental regulators of cementum, functions of extracellular matrix proteins in dental development and mineralization, and manifestations of skeletal and endocrine diseases in the craniofacial and dental tissues. More broadly, I am also interested in how knowledge gained from the study of dental-oral-craniofacial connective tissues may also be applied to skeletal development, disease, wound healing, and regeneration.

Faculty Name: Hanin Hammoudeh, DDS, MS

My research interest/area:

  1. Novel Dental Zirconia /multilayered and printed 
  2. Dental Implants Biomechanics and Clinical outcomes.  
  3. Digital dentistry, AI and digital workflow precision and trueness.
  4. CAD/CAM surgical guides.

Faculty Name: Justin Kaspar, PhD

Microbes exist within complex communities, often referred to as a microbiome. The human oral microbiome contains upwards of 700 different species, living within different niches of the oral cavity. One of those niches are supragingival biofilms, or microbial biofilms attached to the exposed surfaces of teeth. While several species that live in these communities can promote the host’s oral health, others, such as Streptococcus mutans, convert dietary carbohydrates into acid that erodes the tooth’s enamel causing the formation of carious lesions. The goal of our research project(s) are to eliminate disease-associated bacteria like Streptococcus mutans through microbial ecological engineering — utilizing antagonistic exchanges between microbes to our advantage to specifically target a pathogen of interest, leaving intact health-associated bacteria to promote microbiome homeostasis and the maintenance of the host’s health.  

Faculty Name: Do-Gyoon Kim, PhD

Potential Projects: Research interests include biomechanics of oral bone and bone-implant interface, X-ray (cone-beam and micro-computed tomography) based 3D image analysis, and mechanobiology. Projects are directed toward transferring research based knowledge to clinical practice.

Student Skills: MS Office skill (Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc.). Engineering background is preferred but not required.

Faculty Name: Ching-Chang Ko, DDS, MS, PhD

My research has concentrated on two key areas within integrative oral bioengineering: the biomaterials and biomechanics involved in craniofacial bone remodeling and regeneration, and the application of advanced technology in clinical settings. A significant aspect of my work spans from foundational studies in material synthesis and alveolar bone remodeling- aimed at enhancing our understanding of the underlying biophysical principles—to clinically relevant investigations. These include the use of 3D imaging and artificial intelligence (AI), the study of implant osseointegration, osteoclastogenesis related to bone homeostasis, and the processes of tooth movement.

Faculty Name: Diana Leyva del Rio, DDS, MS, PhD

The area of research that I work on is evaluating the physical, mechanical, and optical properties of dental biomaterials such as dental composites, adhesives, ceramics and resin cements. Analyze the mechanical properties of resin-based materials under different polymerization protocols. Development of experimental resin composites with novel resin monomers and/or fillers. 

Faculty Name: Luiz Meirelles, DDS, MS, PhD

Potential Projects: As a clinician-scientist, my research focuses on exploring the health and disease parameters of dental, oral, and craniofacial tissues. Our team is dedicated to developing innovative methods that utilize high-resolution sensors to better understand disease onset, progression, and remission through objective data.

Student Skills: Students will have the opportunity to work with digital scans from various translational and clinical studies. Your role will involve generating and processing these scans to produce detailed outcomes using advanced, data-driven software.

Student Restrictions: Students should be prepared to collaborate in a multidisciplinary setting, contributing to the accelerated development of devices aimed at enhancing patient care. Flexibility and the ability to work effectively across different disciplines are welcome. 

Faculty Name: Beau Meyer, DDS, MPH

Potential Projects:
1. How do clinical guidelines translate into Medicaid reimbursement policies? And how do the policies translate into service utilization?
2. What are the primary drivers and barriers for dentists to increase their participation in the Medicaid program?
3. How do alternative modes of care, such as dental and medical integration, affect receipt of dental services?

Student Skills:
1. Critical thinking
2. Work ethic/initiative
3. Scientific writing experience
4. An entry-level understanding of Medicaid operations

Faculty Name: Leonardo M. Nassani, DMD, MBA

Potential Projects: My research focuses on advancing dental technology with applications in education, restorative/prosthetic dentistry, and sports dentistry. Much of my work involves either survey-based educational research or material science studies that evaluate the properties of computer-manufactured dental restorations. These projects aim to enhance the integration of digital tools in dentistry, improve patient outcomes, and push the boundaries of innovation in dental materials.

Student Skills: Ideal candidates should have strong writing skills, a solid understanding of statistics, and familiarity with—or a willingness to learn about—the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process. The ability to engage with both qualitative and quantitative research methods would be beneficial.

Faculty Name: Peter Reiser, MS, PhD

Potential Projects: CRANIOFACIAL MUSCLE SPECIALIZATIONS. The lab has a focus on the analysis of craniofacial muscles, at the molecular and cellular levels. Jaw-closing, extraocular and laryngeal muscles constitute a group of muscles that have highly specialized motor function. These muscles are recognized to also have complex patterns of sarcomeric protein isoform expression, which are much more elaborate that the patterns that exist in limb muscles. The challenge is to understand how specific sarcomeric proteins, and their individual isoforms, drive the broad repertoire of motor functions that are executed daily by craniofacial muscles. The approach is to study individual isolated muscle fibers by analyzing their contractile properties and the protein composition of the same fibers. The results are used to understand how sarcomeric proteins drive specific contractile properties and motor functions in vertebrate craniofacial muscles.

Student Skills: Students working in the laboratory must have the ability to isolate individual muscle fibers, by fine dissection, and be able to conduct analyses of single fiber protein composition. Extensive training is provided to promote the student's ability to successfully contribute to ongoing projects.

Student Restrictions: There are currently no restrictions in this laboratory on students for participation in the SRP.

Faculty Name: Hillary Schiff, PhD

Potential Projects: Neural circuits for maturation of taste; Neural circuits for maturation of licking behavior
When we’re born, we rely on milk from our caregivers for sustenance, but when weaning occurs, we must find food for ourselves. At this point in life, young mammals experience an explosion of new taste experiences. In previous studies, we found that taste experiences during this time in development were required for maturation of brain regions that respond to tastes—a phenomenon known as critical period plasticity. Animals with taste experiences during this developmental window exhibit neural maturation at a younger age and an enhanced preference for sucrose compared to animals with restricted taste experience. We are continuing to explore these experience-dependent changes in the brain, animal behavior, and taste preference. We are also interested in other taste-related behaviors that develop around this time, especially feeding behaviors including licking and regulation of hunger and satiety. Techniques used in the lab will usually include handling of lab rodents, but may be restricted to image analysis, histology, and data analysis.

Student Skills: Preferred skills include experience handling mice, pipetting, basic data analysis. 

Faculty Name: Yi-Chu Wu, DDS, MS

My research focuses on the relationship between chronic systemic inflammatory diseases and periodontitis. My research interests include implementing new technologies such as dental ultrasound, and dental microscopes, into clinical care. Current on-going research projects involves magnification and peri-implantitis treatment outcome, soft tissue assessment with ultrasound for patients with diabetes, soft tissue assessment with ultrasound for patients receiving orthodontic treatment.