Top Scientists List

Global top 2% of microbiologists and dental scientists

Özlem Yilmaz, D.D.S., Ph.D., of MUSC’s James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, has again earned a place among the top actively publishing biomedical scientists in the world, according to recently released lists from Stanford University.

The "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" identifies the most referenced researchers in the world, across all disciplines and by subspecialty, for that 2023 as well as for each researcher’s lifetime.

For the sixth consecutive year, Yilmaz ranked in the top 2% of biomedical scientists in not just one, but two subspecialties – microbiology and dentistry. It is also the sixth consecutive year in which her career-long references rank in the top 2%.

Dentistry and microbiology: A crossroads for discovering indicators and treatment of severe chronic diseases?

 

Yilmaz’ research focuses on opportunistic bacteria and host interaction. Oral bacteria at high levels could lead to Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and orodigestive cancers. As one of the leading labs in the world on this topic, Yilmaz and her team have been examining the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis, or P. gingivalis, to understand whether the microorganism can pass vessels of the central nervous system known as the blood-brain barrier and establish a silent infection in the brain.

“The question is now,” she said, “if we can stop the infection in the mouth before it gets into the bloodstream and colonizes other areas of the body by knowing more about its mechanisms, and can we come up with a therapeutic intervention for people?”

Mentoring the next generation of top-tier oral health scientists

In 2023, Yilmaz and colleague Caroline Westwater, Ph.D., designed the Raise Awareness In Students Early (RAISE) Host and Microbe Program. Through RAISE, they aim to increase the number of professionals in the biomedical and clinical workforce who are underrepresented minorities and who are pursuing a graduate STEM degree, as part of a career that bridges microbiology and immunology.

Yilmaz and Westwater also earned the RAISE program an NIH R25 grant of $870,000, awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) over a five-year span. To date, grants from the NIAID have been underrepresented at MUSC.

As a new track, the program will synergize with MUSC’s College of Graduate Studies Summer Undergraduate Student Program, and involve students and mentors from the Colleges of Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Medicine and Pharmacy. Co-directors Yilmaz and Westwater expect to welcome the first RAISE students into the program in 2024.

“As a senior woman scientist, clinician, and faculty member, being a bridge builder for the future generation of women in the biomedical field is of utmost importance to me since we have gaps to fill,” said Yilmaz. “To quote the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, ‘Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.’”

She has mentored women and girls in STEM fields in various career stages, and completed Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program for female faculty.

However, it’s not just women who Yilmaz supports.

 

Dental students at the College of Dental Medicine seeking an opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty researcher can apply for a competitive 10-week summer research program after their second year. Yilmaz has enhanced the program with funding from the college. Past topics have included oral and brain health, head and neck cancer, temporomandibular joint health, oral bone health and antibiotics.

Through her lab, Yilmaz also mentors students in MUSC’s dual-degree Dentist Scientist Training Program (DSTP). In the eight-year program, future oral health scientists begin with one year of dental school, followed by approximately four years of research, and then complete the final three years of the dental school curriculum. Found at only a handful of universities in the U.S., the program is supported by an NIH/NIDCR T32 institutional training grant.