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Center of Excellence in Oral and
Craniofacial Biology
Administration
The team of researchers at The
Center of Excellence consists of over 60 faculty
members from ten clinical departments and five
basic science departments in the LSUHSC. The
highly productive faculty members not only strive
to develop and improve the current information
available to the dental profession, they also
impart their research knowledge base to dental
students and postgraduate residents who
participate in research projects each year.
Dr. Paul Fidel, Jr. graduated from
Allegheny College in Pennsylvania with a B.S.
degree in Biology in 1984. He then attended the
University of Oklahoma where he continued his
studies, and received a M.S. and finally Ph.D.
degree in Microbiology in 1988. He joined the
Wayne State University School of Medicine in
Detroit, Michigan as a postdoctoral fellow in the
department of Immunology and Microbiology and was
eventually appointed Assistant Professor of
Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division
of Infectious Disease in 1990. Dr. Fidel also
received a joint appointment in the Department of
Obstetrics/ Gynecology at the Wayne State
University School of Medicine. In 1995, Dr. Fidel
came to the Louisiana State University Medical
Center in New Orleans to serve as an Associate
Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and
Parasitology. He also had a joint appointment in
the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, He
then became a tenured Professor of Microbiology,
Immunology, and Parasitology in 1999. He was the
recipient of the Medical Mycology Millenium
Competition Award given by the Journal of Medical
Mycology and International Society of Human and
Animal Mycology. He also received an award in 1999
from Who's Who Among College Professors. Dr. Paul
Fidel was named holder of the Carl Baldridge Chair
in Oral and Craniofacial Biology and appointed the
director of the Center of Excellence in Oral and
Craniofacial Biology in 2001. He has authored
nearly 120 publications and has served as
investigator for 17 research grants totaling over
$8 million, ten of which were from the National
Institutes of Health. Dr. Fidel regularly serves
on various NIH research review committees to
determine the viability of research grant
submissions nationwide. Dr. Fidel's research
interests include immune defense mechanisms
against oral and vaginal yeast infections.
Since 1997, Dr. Thomas Lallier has
been a member of the Department of Cell Biology
and Anatomy. Since 2001, he has acted as the
Coordinator of Student Research for the LSU School
of Dentistry and was appointed Assistant Director
to the Center of Excellence in Oral and
Craniofacial Biology in 2002. He has served in
many educational capacities; teaching to
undergraduate dental students, dental
post-graduates as well as graduate students. In
his role as Coordinator of Student Research, Dr.
Lallier oversees the design of student research
projects through a post-graduate course in
Research Methodologies and as the chair of the
Student Research Committee that reviews and
critiques all student research proposals. He is
interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms
of cell migration. He is currently focusing on two
model systems (1) the embryonic craniofacial
development of the frog Xenopus laevis and (2) the
regeneration of the human periodontium. Both
systems involve investigating the role of
cell-extracellular matrix interactions in guided
cell migration and differentiation. His most
recent work has investigated the role of a family
of cell surface guidance molecules (semaphorins)
and a family of cell-extracellular matrix
attachment proteins (integrins) in periodontal
regeneration and craniofacial formation.
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