Dear Colleagues and Friends of Pitt Dental Medicine,
I am thrilled to announce an important faculty addition for our school. Dr. Ariadne Letra has agreed to join our team of investigators here at Pitt Dental Medicine in the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences. Dr. Letra has an international reputation as an expert in population genetics for craniofacial malformations, and she brings substantial scientific depth, as well as leadership experience to our team. Having trained in part at the University of Pittsburgh, we welcome her back to our institution after making a substantial impact at the University of Texas-Houston. She has most recently served as Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Research at the University of Texas-Houston School of Dentistry.
Dr. Ariadne Letra obtained her DDS degree from Fluminense Federal University, a certificate and MSc degree in Endodontics from Rio de Janeiro State University, and a PhD in Oral Biology from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, where she also worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology from 2009-2011. She joined the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry in August 2011 as a founding member of the only Center for Craniofacial Research in Texas.
Dr. Letra has been involved in dental education for more than 20 years. Her laboratory investigates the genetic basis of complex craniofacial and oral traits and conditions with the purpose to identify etiologic genes and the mechanisms by which they may contribute to associated phenotypes. Specifically, her laboratory focuses on applying robust gene discovery with functional genomic characterization approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying various conditions. Another aspect of her work focuses on elucidating shared genetic pathways contributing to the causes of oral and craniofacial conditions, and how they interact with systemic diseases.
Dr. Letra’s research productivity is reflected on 107 original articles published in peer-reviewed journals, 5 invited book chapters, and more than 160 meeting abstracts. Her work has been featured in the popular media, including interviews with the New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Dentistry Today, and the United Nations News. A citation analysis of her work reveals over 3,600 citations in scientific publications and a very impressive h-index of 35. Her research program has been repeatedly funded from grants from the National Institutes of Health, the UTHealth Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, and numerous foundations. She is also a frequent grant reviewer for NIH study sections and other funding agencies.
Dr. Letra is an active member and leader within many professional organizations including the American Association for Oral, Dental, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR), International Association for Dental Research (IADR), American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), Society for Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology (SCGDB), American Association of Endodontists (AAE). She is a past Chair of the AAE Research and Scientific Affairs Committee and is currently Vice President of the IADR Women in Science Network.
We are so pleased to have recruited her back to Pittsburgh. Please welcome Dr. Letra and her family as she begins the next phase of her impressive career here at Pitt Dental Medicine in 2022.
Yours in service,
Bernard J. Costello DMD, MD
Dean and Thomas W. Braun Endowed Professor
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine