Yenisel Cruz-Almeida, Ph.D., has been appointed the director of Clinical and Translational Research for the University of Florida College of Dentistry, or UFCD.
Cruz-Almeida, a professor in the UF Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, and associate director of the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, also has appointments in the UF College of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience and the UF College of Public Health & Health Professions’ Department of Epidemiology.
In her new role as director of Clinical and Translational Research, or CTR, she is providing direction and supporting initiatives elevating UFCD’s translational research agenda, building interdisciplinary teams and strategic partnerships to accelerate bench-to-bedside innovation that advances patient outcomes and shapes the future of personalized healthcare.
“Dr. Cruz-Almeida has multidisciplinary expertise spanning preclinical and clinical research, epidemiology and neuroscience. This knowledge base gives her a unique ability to build a transformative research framework that bridges the continuum from discovery to clinical application, that advances patient outcomes and inform precision care,” said A. Isabel Garcia, UFCD dean.
Cruz-Almeida will coordinate her efforts with UFCD leadership in research and in planning and institutional effectiveness, to ensure that the college’s translational research supports all areas of the college missions, and strategic plans and initiatives.
Cruz-Almeida earned her bachelor’s in microbiology and cell science from UF in 2001, her master’s in epidemiology and public health with a concentration in biostatistics in 2004, and her doctorate in neuroscience in 2011, both from the University of Miami.
Cruz-Almeida is a clinical translational neuroscientist specializing in pain mechanisms across the lifespan. Using psychophysics, neuroimaging and epigenetics, she identifies nervous system factors underlying individual pain variability and functional outcomes. Her approach bridges basic neuroscience, clinical outcomes, and population health—uniquely positioning her to lead UFCD’s translational research enterprise.