Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque’s talk is part of dental medicine’s Student Research Day

UB alumna Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be the keynote speaker at the School of Dental Medicine’s Student Research Day on March 9.

A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Webster-Cyriaque will discuss her journey from UB student to second in command at NIDCR, which is tasked with improving the nation’s oral, dental and craniofacial health through research and the distribution of health information.

She will speak from noon to 1 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre, Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Prior to joining NIDCR, Webster-Cyriaque was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for more than two decades. While there, she led research into a potential etiologic agent for salivary gland disease in patients living with HIV, assessed the oral microbiome and its implications for cancer-causing viruses, and studied the impact of the oral microbiome and oral health on HIV outcomes.

Webster-Cyriaque was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for making groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of the role of virus-host interaction in oral disease. She earned a PhD in microbiology/immunology from the UNC Chapel Hill in 1998, a DDS from UB in 1992, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and interdisciplinary social science from UB in 1988.

Student Research Day runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the CFA. The event includes poster presentations from students, as well as award announcements. It is sponsored by VWR International, a subsidiary of Avantor Inc., and Philips Oral Healthcare.