Indian-American elected to top Association for Dental Research

Washington: An Indian-American doctor and professor of dental sciences has been elected vice-president of the prestigious International Association for Dental Research (IADR), a media release said today.

Rena N D’Souza, an alumni of Government Dental College – University of Bombay, is currently serving as the professor of dental sciences, neurobiology & anatomy, and pathology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

D’Souza would later on serve as the president-elect, president and immediate past president of International Association for Dental Research, a media release said.

A past president of the American Association for Dental Research (2012-2013), she has been an active IADR member since 1984.

As a leader in the field, D’Souza has led an active research program for more than 25 years on tooth development and genetics, matrix biology and tissue regeneration, the release said.

She has also directed two comprehensive National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutional research training and development programs and served on several grant review panels.

She served on the NIH’s National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council, the Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group for NIH Director Francis Collins and as chair of its subcommittee on dentist-scientist training.

D’Souza is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, director on the Friends of NIDCR Board and member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina).