Material-Tissue Interfacial Phenomena

Since 2007, Dr. Spencer has been the Ackers Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Bioengineering Research Center at the University of Kansas. She was previously a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry (1998 - 2007) and is a Curators’ Professor Emeritus from the University of Missouri. Working with her research team, Dr. Spencer designs, synthesizes, and develops novel biomaterials for the reconstruction of mineralized tissues damaged by disease, age or trauma. Dr. Spencer has published more than 150 articles, conference proceedings papers, and book chapters.Dr. Spencer’s work has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 20 years. She has served as Mentor on 4 NIH-supported career development awards and as Director of a NIH-supported training program. She serves on several editorial review boards, is a past member of the Center for Scientific Review, NIH (2010 - 2012), and was Visiting Professor at the Bauru School of Dentistry, University of Sao Paulo in 2009. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomaterials Science and Engineering International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, the American College of Dentists, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Anil Misra PhD is Professor of Civil Engineering and Associate Director of the Bioengineering Research Center at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He was previously Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has more than 25 years of experience in the area of granular micromechanics, multi-scale modeling and micro-macro correlations, constitutive behavior of interfaces, e.g. material/tissue interfaces, granular soils, and cement/asphalt concrete, and multi-modal material characterization using high-resolution techniques. He has co-edited three books and guest-edited four journal special issues. He serves as a reviewer for multiple journals, extramural funding agencies and also provides consulting services to industry.

Part One. Dental and craniofacial reconstructions using biomaterials

1. Clinical presentation: Reconstruction using composite materials

2. Reconstructions using alloys and ceramics

3. Interfaces in fixed dental prostheses: Challenges and opportunities

Part Two. Fundamental structure/property characteristics

4. Fundamentals of the material-tissue interface in dental reconstructions: Structure/property relationships and characterization

5. Understanding the mechanical behavior of the material–tissue and material–material interface in dental reconstructions

6. Understanding the chemistry and improving the durability of dental resin–dentin bonded interface

7. Biology of the oral environment and its impact on the stability of dental and craniofacial reconstructions

Part Three. Characterization of material-tissue interfaces in dental and craniofacial reconstructions

8. Morphologic and structural analysis of material-tissue interfaces relevant to dental reconstruction

9. Analyses of material-tissue interfaces by Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, and chemometrics

10. Material-tissue interfacial phenomena: Challenges in mathematical modeling

Part Four. Lessons learned: next generation reconstructions and future opportunities

11. Dentinoenamel junction: Motif for interfacial mechanics of dissimilar materials

12. Chimeric biomolecules: Biomolecular recognition–based self-organization at the bio-material interfaces

13. Stem cells and dental tissue reconstruction