Principal Investigators

Dr. William Giannobile, dean of Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), is a leader in the field of periodontology and an internationally recognized scholar in oral regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and precision medicine.  His research focuses on oral and periodontal regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and precision medicine. He has maintained a continuously NIH-funded research program over the past 25 years and has produced over 300 manuscripts, textbook chapters, and patents focused on periodontology, regenerative medicine and oral health research. He is the editor or co-editor of nine books focused on clinical, translational research, periodontology and regenerative medicine. Dr. Giannobile recently completed a ten-year term as the editor-in-chief for the Journal of Dental Research, the official journal of the International Association for Dental Research. He is also a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Dental Devices, and serves as an associate editor for the upcoming report on the Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health – 2020.

Dr. Giannobile received the American Dental Association’s Norton Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. He is also a recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Academy of Periodontology, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Dental Research and the International and American Colleges of Dentists. He is a past president of the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation, and currently serves as the president of the Osteology Foundation, an organization devoted to oral tissue regeneration by the promotion of science and clinical practice. In addition to his research efforts, he is involved in clinical and didactic teaching in periodontology and will practice clinically in periodontics and implant dentistry at the Harvard Dental Center.

Dr. Kohn is the Natalie C. Roberts Endowed Professor at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Biologic and Materials Sciences (Dentistry) and Biomedical Engineering (Engineering), and Director of the Translational Resource Center. He received his BS in biomedical engineering from Tulane University and his Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kohn’s laboratory focuses on biomineralization, which is investigated by establishing structure-function relations in mineralized tissues and utilizing this information to develop biomimetic strategies to engineer tissue. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Kohn’s research has spanned numerous areas, including biomineralization, biomimetic materials, discovery of novel dual-function peptides, and functional adaptation of tissues in response to exercise, diet and genetic influences. Dr. Kohn is also the PI and Director of Michigan’s NIH-supported Training Program in Tissue Engineering and Regeneration and Director of a university-wide regenerative medicine program funded by the President’s Biosciences Initiative.  Dr. Kohn is past President of the Society for Biomaterials and serves on the advisory boards of several universities and has consulted for many medical device companies. Dr. Kohn is a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Biomedical Engineering Society. He is also a recipient of a Distinguished Scientist award from the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), and Clemson Award from the Society for Biomaterials.

Dr. Mooney is the Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard University and Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine. His inventions have been licensed by twelve companies, leading to commercialized products, and he is active on industrial scientific advisory boards.

His laboratory designs biomaterials to make cell and protein therapies effective and practical approaches to treat disease. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors. He has won numerous awards, including the Clemson Award from the SFB, MERIT award from the NIH, Distinguished Scientist Award from the IADR, Phi Beta Kappa Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard College.

Dr. Wagner is the Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine as well as a Professor of Surgery, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as Scientific Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on “Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials” and Chief Science Officer for the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

Professor Wagner is the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of one of the leading biomaterials journals, Acta Biomaterialia, and is a past-president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO). Currently he serves as Chairman for the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Americas region. He is a fellow and former vice president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and has also been elected a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, TERMIS, and the American Heart Association

Dr. Wagner’s research focuses on areas tissue engineering with projects that address medical device biocompatibility and design, biomaterial development, tissue engineering, and targeted imaging.