Martha Somerman

Biography

 When Somerman accepted the job as director of NIDCR in 2011, she described it as “tremendously exciting” to “lead an entire field of scientific research.” She wasn’t overstating her responsibilities: She manages a $410 million budget and a staff of more than 400 researchers and administrators from the campus of the National Institutes of Health, NIDCR’s parent. Somerman also oversees hundreds of NIH/NIDCR grant winners who are conducting research at medical and dental schools nationwide on topics related to oral, dental and craniofacial health and disease. A Brooklyn native, she was dean of the University of Washington School of Dentistry for nearly a decade, having begun her teaching career at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1984. For her own research at NIDCR, Somerman is an adjunct investigator in the Laboratory of Oral Connective Tissue Biology, studying how different cells and signals affect the development of teeth, the bones they rest on and the tissues that connect the two. Through its research, the lab aims to discover more effective ways to encourage cell regeneration in the mouth. During her tenure, the NIDCR has funded breakthrough research, including the discovery of 41 genes that researchers at Columbia University believe may cause gum disease. The agency’s own scientists, meanwhile, were part of a team that found ways anthrax can be used to fight cancerous tumors. Last February, Somerman announced a collaboration between the NIDCR and the American Dental Association, which will make dental practitioners more involved in NIDCR-funded research.

Research Interest

 Dental surgery