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Welcome Dr. Renato Silva :: New Chair of Endodontics

Dear Colleagues and Friends of Pitt Dental Medicine,

I am excited to announce key leadership position for Pitt Dental Medicine. After an extensive search, Dr. Renato Silva has agreed to become our next Chair of the Department of Endodontics. Dr. Silva has an international reputation as a clinician-scientist and brings substantial scientific and leadership experience to our team. Having trained in part at the University of Pittsburgh, we welcome him back to our institution after accelerating his career dramatically at the University of Texas-Houston. 

Dr. Silva received his DDS from the University Gama Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1994. He received his endodontic certificate from both Brazil (University Gama Filho) and US (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston). Dr. Silva received his MS (2002) in Endodontics and PhD (2006) degree in Oral Sciences from University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Human Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Silva worked as an Assistant Professor at University of Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2011, when he was recruited to Houston. Dr. Silva is currently a Tenured Professor and Chair of the Department of Endodontics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry. Dr. Silva has edited a textbook about Endodontic retreatment and published several peer-reviewed articles in the field of Endodontics and Human Genetics. He is a board-certified endodontist and maintains a clinical practice limited to Endodontics.

Dr. Silva has been highly engaged with the American Dental Education Association’s leadership programs, as well as a number of other associations as a leader and regular contributor. He is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists and has received numerous awards for his service and research, including multiple best paper awards. Having been engaged in research for his entire career, he has mentored scores of trainees in the lab and in the clinic. Uniquely qualified to produce and teach translational science that has impact, Dr. Silva’s areas of expertise include molecular genetic analysis of infectious endodontic pathologic conditions and their relationship to local tissue effects and systemic disease. His research has received repeated grant support from the NIH and the American Association of Endodontists Foundation. Dr. Silva is regularly sought out as a speaker with an international reach. 

Please welcome Dr. Silva and his family to Pittsburgh as he begins as Chair of the Department of Endodontics in January of the new year.

Yours in service,

Bernard J. Costello DMD, MD
Dean and Thomas W. Braun Endowed Professor
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine