Özlem Yilmaz, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Chair, Oral Health Sciences Department
Professor, Oral Health Sciences Department
Professor, Microbiology and Immunology Department
Medical University of South Carolina
Education
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Ph.D., University of Washington, Oral Biology, 2002
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D.D.S., Istanbul University
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Professional Experience
2016–present: Professor, Medical University of South Carolina
2010–2015: Associate Professor, University of Florida
2006-2010: Assistant Professor, University of Florida
2002-2006: Post Doctoral Senior Fellow, University of Washington, School of Public Health & Community Medicine
2003: Visiting Scholar, Biologie Moléculaire du Géne, Institut Pasteur (2003)
Honors and Professional Activities (Most Recent)
2017: Overseas Fellow, The Royal Society of Medicine, England
2014: University of Florida Research Foundation Professor
2013 – 2019: Member of NIH Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Diseases (ODCS) Study Panel
2013: Fellow, CTSI Academy of Research Excellence in Human Subjects, University of Florida, College of Medicine
2012: Fellow, Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM), Drexel College of Medicine
2012 to present: Academic Editor, PLOS ONE
2013 to present: Associate Editor, Molecular Oral Microbiology
2015: Guest Editor, Microbes and Infection
2017 to present: Associate Editor, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
2018 to present: Editorial Board, Journal of Oral Microbiology
2018 to present: Editorial Board, Scientific Reports
2019 to present: Editorial Board, Cells
2020 to present: Editorial Board, Current Research in Microbial Sciences
Main Interests
Our' laboratory focuses on opportunistic pathogens and oral epithelial cell interaction. In particular, we study the bacterial modulation of epithelial response mechanisms, as well as the colonization, trafficking, and persistence of oral pathogens within the oral mucosa. Additionally, we examine the relationships between oral bacteria and chronic oral and systemic diseases.
