Shannon M. Wallet, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Dentistry, received two grants and one contract, totaling more than $800,000 to fund her research within the UF College of Dentistry.
Wallet recently received a $402,875, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund a study to investigate regulatory mechanisms of cyto/chemokine expression which directly and indirectly contribute to tissue destruction and periodontal disease progression.
In November 2008, Wallet was awarded a $75,000 contract from Palmolive Corporation. The contract funds a study to determine if Triclosan, a bisphenol with antimicrobial activity, is effective in tempering the exaggerated expression of inflammatory mediators from diabetogenic gingival epithelial cells and diabetogenic gingival fibroblasts elicited in response to multiple components of known periodontal pathogens.
In 2007 Wallet received a three-year, $414,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to investigate the role of gingival epithelial cells in innate immunity of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Wallet graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a PhD in Oral Biology. She joined the UF College of Dentistry in 2006 as an assistant professor in Periodontology and Oral Biology. Wallet is a member of several committees including the College of Dentistry’s Research Committee and the College of Medicine’s Interdisciplinary PhD Admissions Committee. She also serves on several PhD and Master’s student committees as a mentor and/or member. Wallet enjoys providing education through research, which remains one of her highest priorities.