Dr. Shigemi Nagai

Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials Sciences
nagai
shigemi_nagai@hsdm.harvard.edu
Nagai Lab
Harvard Catalyst

Dr. Shigemi Ishikawa Nagai is a full-time faculty member in prosthodontics and serves as the director of advanced dentistry in the DMD program.

Nagai earned her DDS and PhD from Iwate Medical University School of Dentistry in Japan. She received her board certification in prosthodontics and a master’s degree in biomaterials from Boston University. Her career has been dedicated to teaching prosthodontics and mentoring students' research.

Recognized with numerous teaching awards, including the Distinguished Junior Faculty Award and the Claude R. Baker Teaching Award, Nagai has authored over 35 peer-reviewed publications and received the Judson C. Hickey Scientific Writing Award for her work in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry.

She is the principal investigator in the Nagai Lab at HSDM, where she leads clinical and in vitro research and mentors predoctoral students and prosthodontics residents. Her research focuses on color science in dentistry, including developing a dental spectrophotometer and exploring fluorescence for early dental caries detection. She is developing an optical system for caries detection using near-infrared fluorescence and continues projects on computerized color-matching technology for dental restorations and maxillofacial prostheses.