Dean and Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection & Immunity
Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine

In 2020 William Giannobile was named the 11th Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He is also a Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at Harvard. He previously served as the Najjar Endowed Professor of Dentistry and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry from 1998-2020. He received his DDS and MS in Oral Biology from the University of Missouri. He later received his Certificate in Periodontology and Doctor of Medical Sciences in Oral Biology from Harvard University. He completed postdoctoral training in Molecular Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Genoa Medical School Biotechnology Institute and the Eastman Dental Institute, University College London.

Dr. Giannobile’s continuously NIH-funded research program over the past 25 years has focused on Oral and Periodontal Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Precision Medicine. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator to the NIH/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. He is the editor or co-editor of 9 books focused on clinical, translational research, periodontology and regenerative medicine. 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. Dr. Giannobile has serves as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Dental Devices. He serves as an Associate Editor for the upcoming report on the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health – 2021.

In 2019, Dr. Giannobile received the American Dental Association Norton Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. He is also a recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Academy of Periodontology. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Dental Research and the International and American Colleges of Dentists. He is a past president of the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation, and currently serves as the President of the Osteology Foundation, a foundation with the mission of promoting science through clinical practice in oral tissue regeneration. In addition to his administrative and teaching responsibilities, he practices periodontics and implant dentistry at the Harvard Dental Center.