Dr. William V. Giannobile, became dean of HSDM on September 1, 2020. An HSDM alumnus, Giannobile is prominent educator and leader in the field of periodontology. He shares more about his background and vision for the School in the following Q&A.

Tell us about your background. What led you to a career in dental education?

I was born in Chicago and my parents later moved our family (my three sisters and me) to a small farm in the Ozarks of Missouri. Early on as a young person, I was very curious about science and medicine. I had an inspiring...

Gerardo Alvarez, a native of Valencia, Venezuela, comes from a family where dentistry and medicine are a passion. Within his immediate family, Alvarez has an uncle who is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and an aunt who is an orthodontist. His mother Maria is a foreign internal medicine doctor. After arriving in the U.S. at the age of 16, Alvarez and his mother settled in Miami, residing with his aunt. Alvarez spent many afternoons at his aunt and uncle’s dental practice where he developed a love of dentistry. After high school, Alvarez attended Davidson...

Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) recently reached a goal of raising $1 million in support of the Donoff Scholars DMD Scholarship. Created in recognition of R. Bruce Donoff, DMD67, MD73, and his 28 years of dedication, innovation, and leadership as Dean of HSDM, the Scholarship will support future generations of HSDM pre-doctoral students who are seeking innovative careers in dentistry by pursuing a second Harvard graduate degree. The scholarship aims to strengthen the School’s mission of developing and fostering a community of global leaders dedicated to improving human health by...

Abigail Marshall, a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, comes to HSDM from Sunbury, Ohio. After growing up in a small farming town of just 5,000 residents, Marshall is excited to move to Boston in January and start exploring local sights, sounds, and cuisines. During her undergraduate studies, Marshall majored in biology and premedical studies with a minor in disability studies. She was also a Division I athlete, competing on the Women’s Varsity Field Hockey team, where she won three conference championships and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament. She is...

Joe Montesano, DMD24, grew up in Roxbury, New Jersey, a small suburban town in the northern part of the state. An alumnus of Seton Hall University, Montesano graduated with degrees in biology and philosophy.

Before enrolling at HSDM, Montesano spent a gap year working as a dental assistant in the same dental office that sparked his interest in dentistry several years prior. Even in the midst of the pandemic, this dental office remained open and busy treating patients from all over the state.

In addition to dentistry, Montesano is interested in...

Meet Sapna Nath, DMD24, a Long Island, New York, native and member of HSDM's newest class of predoctoral students. A 2019 graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Sapna received a B.S. in Economics with concentrations in Healthcare Management & Policy and Business Analytics and minored in Chemistry. During her undergraduate years, Nath was a research assistant at Penn Dental Medicine in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences. She also conducted policy research at the Leonard...

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is offering its Bridge to Dental School program for the second year in a row. The free 10-session program is aimed at encouraging diverse representation in dental school applicants by providing prospective students with mentorship and coaching from current HSDM DMD students. The interactive program held on...

As Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) students and residents learned that the academic year would take an unprecedented turn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several jumped into action, finding different ways to turn the challenges presented by the pandemic into opportunities to help. Whether through community outreach, research, or care, they quickly honed in on ways to aid their local and global communities.... Read more about Dental Students Combat COVID-19 Through Volunteerism and Action

A reflection written by David Danesh, DMD20.

“When the world needs leaders, we will be among them; when the world needs solutions, we will help create them.” Reflecting on the class oath that we took with our Harvard Medical School colleagues during our White Coat Ceremony in August of 2016, this line resonates with me today. The knowledge we gained while receiving our education at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) will help us think about creative solutions to the challenges we face today, and new challenges we will ultimately face in the future. Amidst the COVID-...