| Name: | Jeffrey L. Ebersole |
| Position Type: | Professorship |
| Appointment Start Date: | 01/01/00 |
| Appointment End Date: | |
| Area of Specialty: | Primary research interests are in development and characteristics of immune responses in the oral cavity. This focuses on innate and adaptive humoral immune mechanisms. |
| Summary Vita: | Alvin L. Morris Professor of Oral Health Research Director, Center for Oral Health Research Associate Dean for Research B.S., Biology, Temple University Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh |
| Highest Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Professional Affiliations: | IADR Microbiology and Immunology Group American Association of Dental Research International Association of Dental Research American Association for the Advancement of Science American Society for Microbiology |
| Primary Research Focus: | Our laboratory's emphasis is the determination of host responses associated with bacterial colonization/infection by selected periodontopathic bacteria. Our emphasis with respect to these polymicrobial infections and responses to biofilms have been: (1) to characterize the use of a murine model for studies delineating the bacterial and host components that contribute to both soft and hard tissue destruction caused by these pathogens; (2) to utilize the nonhuman primate model of periodontitis to evaluate host-bacterial interactions in the chronic inflammatory disease; (3) to delineate the macromolecules of these bacteria that elicit the production/secretion of various host inflammatory mediators from non-immune cells (ie. gingival fibroblasts, epithelial cells); and, (4) to provide translational evidence on biologic links between oral infections and systemic diseases. |
| Key Contributions: | Development and implementation of ELISA for studies of humoral immune responses in oral biology. Identification of parameters for induction of secretory immune responses in the oral cavity. Development of technology for evaluation of antibody and mediators in gingival crevicular fluid as diagnostic/prognostic risk markers for periodontitis. Identification of systemic inflammatory mediator changes in periodontitis patients. Biologic characteristics of selected oral pathogens using in vitro and in vivo models. Delineation of the use of nonhuman primate models for evaluating infections and host responses in the oral cavity. |
| Publications: | Holt, SC and Ebersole, JL. The oral spirochetes: Their ecology and role in oral pathogenesis. In: Spirochetes, ed. J. Radolph, 2006, Chapter 14. Kesavalu, L., B Vasudevan, B Raghu, E Browning, D Dawson, MJ Novak, MC Correll, MJ Steffen, A Bhattacharya, G Fernandes, JL Ebersole. 2006. w-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid effects on alveolar bone loss in rats. J. Dent. Res.,85:648-652. Kesavalu, L, S Sabapathi, V Bakthavatchalu, C Mathews, D Dawson, M Steffen, JL Ebersole. 2006. Polymicrobial periodontal disease: A rat model of polymicrobial infection, immunity, and alveolar bone resorption. Infect. Immun., In press. Kesavalu, L, V Bakthavatchalu, M Rahman, J Su, R Badrachalam, C Mathews, D Dawson, G Fernandes, JL Ebersole. 2006. w-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid regulates inflammatory cytokine/mediator mRNA expression in Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced experimental periodontal disease. Oral Microbiol Immunol, In press. |