John Le, DDS

UAB School of Dentistry, UAB Hospitals

Dr. Le was born and raised in Long Beach, California where he completed his undergraduate education at the University of California, Irvine. He then moved to the Midwest to complete his dental education and training at the University of Michigan, School of Dentistry (UMSoD). While at UMSoD, Dr. Le had an outstanding mentor, Dr. Stephen Feinberg, who encouraged him to seek out research experience. Thereafter, he became involved in basic science research that focused on epigenetics in epithelial homeostasis and cancer stem cells. Furthermore, Dr. Le took a gap-year in between his third and fourth years of dental school to complete a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health under the mentorship of Dr. Janice Lee. There, he studied the osteogenic potential of skeletal stem cells in the animal model. After that fellowship experience, he knew that he wanted to incorporate research into his future clinical practice. In 2018, The Match led him to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he is currently a third year resident trainee. Dr. Le’s current research activities include both clinical and basic science research under the mentorship of doctor’s Anthony Morlandt and Quamarual Hassan. Their projects focus on surgical outcomes in head and neck cancer patients and microRNA-controlled bone homeostasis in the animal model. He looks forward to the new experiences that the Osteo Science Foundation’s Research Observership will provide him and the hopes to incorporate them in his future endeavors.