The immune system plays an essential role in keeping us healthy and in protecting us from disease. Immune cells are regulated by cytokines, key molecules (of which there are more than 100 major types) that send chemical messages that dictate how and when immune cells develop or activate against threats to our health. Cytokines are so critical to the function of the immune system that more than one million scientific publications have studied them — yet until now there’s been no systemic reference for understanding how specific cytokines affect different...

Talking, laughing, chewing, and smiling are daily facial movements everyone makes with little to no thought, however for individuals with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), those simple movements may cause sharp pain or persistent discomfort.... Read more about Multidisciplinary Team Awarded NIDCR Grant to Study TMDs

In early 2022, Dean Giannobile launched an effort to recruit exemplary early career scientists with expertise in a broad range of biomedical and health science specialties, including in the areas of microbiology, cell biology, immunology, stem cell biology, neurobiology, pharmacology, physiology, biomaterials and tissue engineering, biomedical imaging, bioinformatics and epidemiology, and public health.... Read more about Up and Coming Scientists Join HSDM

In dental research and practice, all eyes are on artificial intelligence's (AI) promise for patients.

AI has made its arrival in dental care around the world, largely thanks to a swell of early adopters who have embraced the newest assistive technologies that could lead to earlier diagnosis of oral diseases and put more informative tools in the hands of patients.... Read more about From Climate Change to Cavities, AI Is Changing Oral Health

A collaborative initiative, led by Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), recently received $4.4 million in funding from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to establish a novel clinical practice-based research network to train future clinician-scientists over the next five years.

... Read more about Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Collaborators Receive $4.4 Million Grant to Train the Next Generation of Clinician-Scientists

New research out of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) sheds light on a largely underexplored frontier of developmental biology – how mechanical stimuli control growth and patterning in embryonic development. The findings, reported in Science Advances, could have implications for preventing or treating neural tube birth defects in humans.... Read more about New Study Reveals How Mechanical Stimuli Control Early Embryonic Growth and Development

It is well established that periodontitis plays a role in developing numerous diseases and disorders unrelated to oral health. But now, a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and São Paulo State University School of Dentistry (UNESP) highlights the potential to improve cancer treatment outcomes and decrease related adverse events by addressing oral dysbiosis.