Clinician-scientist Kevin Byrd, DDS, PhD, was selected as the founding Anthony R. Volpe Research Scholar, a new position in the ADA Science & Research Institute (ADASRI) supported by a five-year grant from Colgate-Palmolive.
This position will help the ADASRI translate its findings into clinical applications, the ADA said. Byrd has joined the ADASRI’s Department of Innovation and Technology as the Anthony R. Volpe Research Scholar and as manager of oral and craniofacial research.
“I was overjoyed to learn that I would be joining the ADA Science & Research Institute as their first Volpe Research Scholar. It is an honor to be working alongside so many brilliant and talented colleagues,” said Byrd.
“I have been working to build and analyze single-cell maps of the oral tissues and am looking forward to continuing and expanding that work in my new role. I invite anyone to approach me with ideas for innovation, and I am looking forward to contributing to the team through creativity and collaboration,” Byrd said.
Anthony R. Volpe, DDS, Colgate’s former vice president of scientific affairs, died on October 8, 2020. Volpe evaluated the clinical efficacy of the company’s toothpastes during his 52-year career. He also served as chair of the ADA Foundation Board of Directors. In 2014, the Volpe Research Center was dedicated in his honor.
Byrd completed his DDS at the University of Michigan in 2013 and his PhD at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in 2018. Before being named the Volpe Research Scholar, he was a member of the research faculty at the school’s Division of Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences. Byrd also has served as an ADA Success speaker and consultant to the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs.
Working with ADASRI, Byrd is looking forward to continuing to explore technologies to model and improve oral wound healing and soft tissue grafting to better understand the connection of the oral cavity to systemic disease and to discover the unique and undiscovered cell types among oral and craniofacial tissues across the lifespan.
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