Dr. Jan Hu, the Samuel D. Harris Collegiate Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences at the School of Dentistry, has been named the new director of the School’s Oral Health Sciences/Ph.D. program by Dean Peter Polverini. She succeeds Dr. Charlotte Mistretta, associate dean for research, who directed the program from its inception.
The OHS/Ph.D. program was launched in 1994 in response to a national demand for academic leaders in oral health research. Students typically enter the program with dental or specialty degrees or are interested in simultaneously pursuing a dental degree and a doctorate. The first Ph.D. degrees in Oral Health Sciences were awarded in 1999. The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Oral Health Sciences is a program of the Horace Rackham School of Graduate Studies offered through the School of Dentistry.
The basic goal of the program is to train the students to become advanced research scientists in a field of interest within oral health sciences that targets clinical problems affecting the orofacial region. A major benefit for students is the opportunity to work closely with their mentors and interact with other faculty members engaged in research.
Students investigate an array of biological, chemical and physical aspects of problems related to oral health focusing on six broad areas of research — craniofacial development, tissue engineering and regeneration, oral infections and immunologic diseases, mineralized tissue biology and musculoskeletal disorders, oral sensory systems, and oral and pharyngeal cancer.
“With the outstanding support the School’s OHS/Ph.D. program has received from Dean Polverini and program faculty, I will continue finding ways to integrate clinical dentistry and basic science research as well as enhance the visibility of the program nationally and internationally,” Hu says.
Citing the program’s recent “very successful review” by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, Mistretta says, “It will be great to watch the program shift and stretch in different directions as Jan and Dr. Polverini work together and with the program faculty, who make the program tick. With the new leadership and our dedicated staff, our Ph.D. students will continue to thrive.”
Hu received Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from National Taiwan University in 1985 and was a resident in pediatric dentistry at the University of Southern California. In 1990 she earned a Ph.D. in craniofacial biology from USC then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in craniofacial molecular biology and was appointed clinical assistant professor. In 1993 she joined the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Six years later she was named an associate professor with tenure. In 2002 Hu joined the faculty at U-M as an associate professor with tenure.
Hu’s research team has identified numerous disease causing mutations in genes that lead to inherited tooth defects. Her research is focused on developing strategies to improve oral reconstruction using gene therapy.
