Welcoming New Faculty: Robert Shields

Robert C. Shields, Ph.D., became a research assistant professor in the Department of Oral Biology in July 2017.

Shields is focusing on research in the Burne Laboratory, collaborating with other research groups in the college, mentoring postdoctoral and doctoral students, and other research trainees.

Shields earned his bachelor’s degree in marine biology in 2009 and his doctoral degree in microbiology in 2014, both from Newcastle University in Newcastle, United Kingdom. Following that he joined UF as a postdoctoral research associate in oral biology before becoming a faculty member.

His research interests include oral microbiology, biofilms, molecular biology and streptococcal genetics. He recently submitted a proposal to the National Institutes of Health for his research project, “Systems biology approaches for analysis of Streptococcus mutans.”