College welcomes eight new faculty

The University of Florida College of Dentistry welcomed eight new faculty members to the college between July 1 and August 24 in the endodontics, operative dentistry, oral biology, orthodontics and periodontology departments.

Kathleen Neiva, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Department of Endodontics

Kathleen Neiva, D.D.S., Ph.D., joined the Department of Endodontics on July 1 as a post-doctoral fellow and adjunct clinical assistant professor. She earned her D.D.S. in 1997 from Vale do Itajai University School of Dentistry in Itajai, Brazil, and her Ph.D. in oral health sciences from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor.  Neiva spent four years working in general dentistry in Brazil before moving to Michigan where she was an adjunct clinical lecturer in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics until 2009, teaching DMD students in a clinical and classroom setting.

Department of Operative Dentistry

Saulo Geraldeli, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.
Saulo Geraldeli, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.

On August 17, Saulo Geraldeli, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S., joined the Department of Operative Dentistry as a clinical assistant professor. Previously he was an assistant professor at the University of Iowa in Iowa City where he received the Junior Faculty Award in 2009. His primary research interests are in clinical behavior of dental biomaterials, dentin permeability, mechanical and morphological evaluation of dental biomaterials interfaces, and Cystein Proteases and Cytokines. He is an experienced mentor, lecturer and author.

 

Luis Sensi, D.D.S, Ph.D., M.S.
Luis Sensi, D.D.S, Ph.D., M.S.

Luis Sensi, D.D.S, Ph.D., M.S., joined the college on August 24 as a clinical assistant professor, coming from the University of Maryland Dental School where he’d been since 2006 in the Department of Endodontics, Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry.  Sensi earned his D.D.S. from the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1999, his master’s (2003) and Ph.D. (2006) in operative dentistry from Federal University of Santa Catarina in Florianopolis, Brazil.  He worked for six years in private practice in Brazil and for four years in the University of Maryland School of Dentistry’s faculty practice.

Department of Oral Biology

Jeffrey Mans, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Mans, Ph.D.

Jeffrey Mans, Ph.D., started as a research assistant professor in Oral Biology on August 8 and has been with the college since 2007 as a postdoctoral associate in the department.  In 2001 he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, in biology and his Ph.D. at UF in 2007.  His primary research focus is investigating host-microbe interactions that are likely to occur in the oral cavity and hopes to identify cause-and-effect crosstalk between host and microbe that follows a temporal progression.

Department of Orthodontics

 

Jian Zuo, M.D., M.S.
Jian Zuo, M.D., M.S.

Jian Zuo, M.D., M.S., rejoined the college as a research assistant professor on August 1 in the Department of Orthodontics, having been here in that capacity from 2006 to 2009. She received her M.D. in 1982 and her M.S. in Pathology from the Fujian Medical University, China.  She has been with the University of Florida since 1997 working with the College of Medicine as a research assistant professor and with our college.

Department of Periodontology

Rodrigo Neiva, D.D.S., M.S.
Rodrigo Neiva, D.D.S., M.S.

Rodrigo Neiva, D.D.S., M.S., was with the University of Michigan Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine before joining our Department of Periodontics on July 1 as the graduate program director and clinical associate professor.  An accomplished lecturer, author and researcher, Neiva earned his D.D.S. degree in 1997 from Vale do Itajai University, in Itajai, Brazil, and his M.S. in periodontics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2004.

Peter Harrison, D.D.S., B.D.S.
Peter Harrison, D.D.S., B.D.S.

Peter Harrison, D.D.S., B.D.S., joined the college on July 1 as a visiting clinical assistant professor in the Department of Periodontology.  He earned his Bachelor of Dental Science Degree and his D.D.S. from Trinity College’s Dublin Dental School and Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.

Department of Prosthodontics

Monica Fernandez, D.D.S., M.S.
Monica Fernandez, D.D.S., M.S.

Monica Fernandez, D.D.S., M.S., served as adjunct faculty at the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis (IUSD) prior to coming to the college on July 6 as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Prosthodontics. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1987 from Minas in Lavalleja, Uruguay; her D.D.S. in 1998 from Facultad de Odontologia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay; and her certificate of post graduate in prosthodontics from IUSD.