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Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque

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Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque
Webster-Cyriaque in 2020
Alma materUniversity at Buffalo
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Scientific career
FieldsOral microbiome, immunology, HIV
InstitutionsUniversity of North Carolina
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
ThesisThe role of Epstein-Barr virus in hairy leukoplakia and other AIDS associated oral mucosal lesions (1998)
Doctoral advisorNancy Raab-Traub

Jennifer Y. Webster-Cyriaque is an American dentist and immunologist specializing in the oral microbiome, salivary gland disease in patients with HIV, and cancer-causing viruses. She became the deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in November 2020. Webster-Cyriaque was a faculty member at UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the UNC School of Medicine for 21 years.

Education

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Webster-Cyriaque completed a B.A. in biology and social science in 1988 and a D.D.S. from University at Buffalo in 1992. She earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 1998.[1] Her dissertation was titled The role of Epstein–Barr virus in hairy leukoplakia and other AIDS associated oral mucosal lesions. Nancy Raab-Traub [Wikidata] was her doctoral advisor.[2]

Career

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Webster-Cyriaque has been part of the UNC Adams School of Dentistry's and the UNC School of Medicine's faculty for over twenty years.[3] Webster-Cyriaque is one of the UNC's tenured full professors. She supported the UNC Hospital’s dental clinic and she investigated a potential cause for a salivary gland disease in HIV patients. She assessed the oral microbiome's implications for Oncoviruses, and its impact on the HIV patient's oral health.[1]

The "UNC Malawi project" is based at Kamuzu Central Hospital

In 2004, she became responsible for the "UNC Malawi project".[3] The project is a partnership between the Malawi Ministry of Health (led by Khumbize Chiponda since 2020) and the UNC.[4] The UNC Malawi Project is based in the country's capital at the Kamuzu Central Hospital.[5] Webster-Cyriaque assisted in creating Malawi’s first dental school in 2019.[3] Webster-Cyriaque was the chair/vice chair of the Oral HIV/AIDS Research Alliance, the research director at the National Dental Association Foundation, and director of postdoctoral Clinical and Translational Science Award training. She is an active member of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the International Association for Dental Research.[3]

In March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic Webster-Cyriaque was involved with research at the Adams School of Dentistry at the UNC to see if mouthwash could be used to inactivate the Covid-19 virus.[6] Later that year she became the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research's deputy director under the new Director Rena D’Souza.[3][7] In 2022, Webster-Cyriaque received the International Association for Dental Research Distinguished Scientist Oral Pathology and Medicine Research Award. The same year, she was named to the National Academy of Medicine for For making seminal contributions to the understanding of the role of virus-host interaction in oral disease.[8]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque.
  1. ^ a b "Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, DDS, PhD". NIH. Retrieved February 6, 2022.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Webster-Cyriaque, Jennifer (1998). The role of Epstein-Barr virus in hairy leukoplakia and other AIDS associated oral mucosal lesions (Ph.D. thesis). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. OCLC 47672170.
  3. ^ a b c d e "NIDCR taps Webster-Cyriaque as deputy director". DrBicuspid.com. November 22, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "UNC Project-Malawi". globalhealth.unc.edu. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "UNC Project Partners | UNC Project-Malawi". globalhealth.unc.edu. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  6. ^ Jaramillo-Plata, Nayeli (March 23, 2021). "A tool to kill COVID-19 might be in your medicine cabinet: mouthwash". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "Webster-Cyriaque Selected as Deputy Director, NIDCR". NIH. November 21, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2022.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ "Four NIH Scientists Named to National Academy of Medicine". NIH Record. November 25, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2023.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Institutes of Health.
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