Lech Switalski

Biography

Lech Switalski, Ph.D. holds the position of Associate Scientist at the Oral Health Research Institute. After graduating from Warsaw University he worked at the National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw, Poland, conducting research on pathogenicity factors of staphylococci, and completing Ph.D. thesis on this subject. His postdoctoral training included running research projects at the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Department of Bacteriology, School of Veterinary Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden and the National Bacteriological Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden. After moving to the US, he worked on adhesiveness of bacteria at the Department of Microbiology, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, Department of Periodontics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA and Department of Oral Biology, Indiana University, IN.

Research Interest

Pathogenicity factors of oral bacteria Oral biofilms Molecular taxonomy of oral lactobacilli New anticariogenic agents that do not disturb oral ecology New dental curriculum - case study and problem based learning