School of Dentistry faculty member Margherita Fontana appointed chair of CRSE department3 min read
Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 23, 2024 – School of Dentistry faculty member Dr. Margherita Fontana has been appointed chair of the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics (CRSE), effective January 1, 2025.
Dean Jacques Nör announced the appointment after an extensive search by a committee of faculty, staff, residents and alumni. Nör was the department’s previous chair prior to starting as Dean in August 2023.
Fontana is the Clifford Nelson Endowed Professor of Dentistry in the CRSE department. She joined the school in 2009 as an associate professor, with tenure, and was promoted to professor in 2014.
Fontana is recognized internationally as a leading scientist in the field of cariology and has an extensive clinical research background in childhood caries management. More specifically, she has published research and lectured extensively on the design and assessment of strategies for reducing disparities in how dental caries are recognized and treated in children in underserved regions. She currently president of the Organization for Caries Research (ORCA), an international scientific organization based in Europe that publishes epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies about dental caries, fluorosis, erosion, and related dental diseases in its journal Caries Research.
She is the principal investigator (PI) on two National Institutes of Health grants totaling $18.3 million, and is the PI or co-PI on nine corporate grants. She has authored more than 147 peer-reviewed publications and 11 book chapters, and has been invited to speak at more than 260 national and international conferences. She also has served as a member of key state advisory committees on fluoridation, sealants and oral health.
Fontana is the recipient of numerous awards for her research and mentoring. They include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Office of the U.S. President (2012); the Basil G. Bibby Award in Cariology from the International Association for Dental Research Cariology Research Group (1999); the E.W. Borrows Memorial Award from the International Association for Dental Research (2016); the Michigan Institute of Clinical and Health Research Mentor Award (2018); the U-M Faculty Recognition Award (2017) , given in recognition of a mid-career faculty member who has made exceptional contributions to research, teaching and service; a dental school Outstanding Teacher Award (2011); and Class Recognition Award (2018, 2019, 2021) from first-year dental students.
A previous leadership position at the dental school was as Director of Global Initiatives in Oral and Craniofacial Health (GIOCH). The program works to improve oral health around the world by organizing dental and dental hygiene students to travel to several countries to provide dental care for local residents and to train local healthcare providers.
The CRSE department has been led on an interim basis by faculty member Dr. Ron Heys in the last year after Nör was named dean.
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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu. Email [email protected], or call (734) 615-1971.