PI: Patricia MiguezI received my DDS degree from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil in 1997. Upon graduation, I joined the Periodontology Program at that same institution. I received the Certificate Degree in Periodontology in 1999 and in 2000 I came to the US seeking excellence in Restorative Dentistry as part of my plan of becoming a Perio-restorative faculty when returning to Brazil. The 3-year masters at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill {UNC-CH} introduced me to state-of-the-art concepts in restorative dental care, engaging in critical thinking with students and research. It was the time where I fell in love with research in mineralized tissue and the concept of extracellular matrix (ECM), research on collagen and proteoglycans and their utilization as biomaterials. In 2002, I decided to stay permanently in the US and I joined the PhD in Oral Biology/Certificate in Periodontology combined program at UNC-CH in 2003 and graduated in 2011. My area of concentration in the PhD program was Extracellular Matrices Biology with studying collagen biochemistry and proteoglycan structure-function for the purpose of tissue maintenance. My initial training included basic biochemical collagen characterization methods, mineralization concepts and protocols, recombinant protein generation, proteoglycan biology, bone and dentin cell/tissue culture methods and animal bone regeneration models. Upon graduation, I left UNC-CH to join the University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor in the Department of Periodontics. At Penn, most of my time was dedicated to the learning additional methods of in vivo models of oral disease, establishing expertise in various histological protocols, biomechanical tests, ex-vivo cell culture, protein purification, and imaging. 2014 and 2015 were gap years in my career due to professional and personal reasons. In 2016 I became tenure track assistant professor at UNC-CH to succeed in an academic career as a scientific investigator, teacher and practitioner.
Specialties: Periodontology, Operative Dentistry, Oral Biology {focus: extracellular matrix biology}, Implantology
{unless a capacity for thinking is accompanied by a capacity for action, the mind exists in torture – C. H. Cooley}