Giannobile Laboratory

About the Giannobile Lab

Dean Giannobile has maintained a continuously NIH-funded research program over the past 25 years, and serves as co-principal investigator for the NIDCR supported Michigan-Pittsburgh-Wyss Regenerative Medicine Resource Center. The goal of the Center is to translate early stage dental, oral, and craniofacial reconstructive technologies into clinical practice.

He has produced over 300 manuscripts, textbook chapters, and patents focused on periodontology, regenerative medicine, and oral health research. Dr. Giannobile recently completed a 10-year term as the Editor-in- Chief for the Journal of Dental Research, the official journal of the International Association for Dental Research. He serves as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for dental devices, and Associate Editor for the upcoming Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health – 2021.

His current lab has funded projects on bone anabolic agents for rebuilding bone around teeth and dental implants, gene delivery approaches to accelerate dental implant osseointegration, and precision medicine work for patient stratification by genetic and epigenetic methods via saliva diagnostics. Much of this work involves both translational research and clinical research approaches to better diagnose and treat patients through implementation of human clinical trials.

Lab Team

Jim Sugai is the Senior Research Laboratory Specialist in the Giannobile Lab at the University of Michigan Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine. Jim will provide remote oversight of the Giannobile Lab.

Dr. Tobias Fretwurst's headshot Tobias Fretwurst DDS, PhD, is a Visiting Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity. Dr. Fretwurst received his DDS from University of Greifswald and his PhD from University of Freiburg (Germany). He completed Oral Surgery and Implantology Training at the University of Freiburg in 2017. He has served as an Osteology Research Scholar at the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA from 2016-2017. Dr. Fretwurst is the Head of the Division for Regenerative Oral Medicine in the Department of Oral- and Craniomaxillofacial Surgery at the University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany.

Dr. Larrissa Steigmann's headshot Larissa Steigmann, DMD, MS is a postdoctoral fellow in Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity. She received her first dental degree (DMD) from the Goethe University of Frankfurt and obtained her Master of Science in Periodontology at University of Michigan. Since 2022, she has been a member of the faculty at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in the Department of Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity, Division of Periodontology where she compassionately supports the dental education of students. Concomitantly she works in the Giannobile Lab and pursues research directed towards personalized medicine.

Dr. Balazs Feher's headshot Balazs Feher, DMD, is a Research Fellow and a former Osteology Research Scholar at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. As a member of the Giannobile Lab, Dr. Feher conducts preclinical and clinical research with a specific focus on oral hard and soft tissue regeneration. He further collaborates with the Center of Computational Biomedicine of Harvard Medical School on research efforts using artificial intelligence in dental medicine. Dr. Feher received his DMD and PhD from the Medical University of Vienna, where he worked as a Clinical Instructor and Lecturer in oral surgery prior to joining Harvard.

Dr. Birtan Tolga Yilmaz's headshot Birtan Tolga Yilmaz, DDS, is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Part of the Giannobile Lab, Dr. Yilmaz conducts preclinical and clinical research on oral hard and soft tissue regeneration. His research primarily focuses on the development and application of translational regenerative treatment strategies into clinical practice. Dr. Yilmaz earned his Periodontology degree from Hacettepe University in 2019.

Dr. Jessica Latimer's headshot Jessica Latimer, DDS, is a DMSc candidate and periodontology resident in Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Latimer received her DDS at the University of Washington and graduated with honors as a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society. Her ongoing thesis project, “Abaloparatide to Treat Alveolar Bone Loss for Dental Implant Reconstruction” is currently funded by the NIH Interdisciplinary Translational Project (ITP) Program.

Dr. Michael Chen's headshot Michael Chen, DMD, is and incoming DMSc periodontics resident at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where he also received his DMD. Dr. Chen has been involved with the Giannobile Lab since 2020 and engages in translational research exploring hard tissue augmentation around dental implant reconstruction.