Sivaraman Prakasam, associate professor of periodontics, has been named chair of the Department of Periodontics.

Prakasam studied dentistry at the Ragas Dental college and hospitals, Chennai, India and earned a Bachelor of Dental Science degree from The T.N. Dr. M.G.R Medical University, Chennai, India (2000) before completing a PhD in Oral Biology and Pathology from the State University of New York, Stony Brook (2009), and a MS (2011) and residency (2010) in periodontology at Indiana University.

Prakasam joined the faculty at Iowa on August 31. He previously was associate professor of periodontics at the Oregon Health and Science University, where he served from 2014 until joining Iowa’s faculty. He also served as a clinical assistant professor in periodontics at Indiana University from 2010-2014.

Prakasam is a thought and educational leader in the field of periodontics. He is a past recipient of the Balint Orban Award from the American Academy of Periodontology (2011). The American Academy of Periodontology has named him a Teaching Fellow (2013).  He also received the Academy of Periodontology Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award. (2018).

His research is focused on a group of proteins (Peptidoglycan recognition proteins) that are biomarkers for oral inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis, and he has received an exploratory grant from the National Institutes of Health and several private industry and foundation grants in support of his on-going research, and he has published over 20 journal articles, including 10 as first author.

Prakasam has already established strong collaborations with Iowa dental researchers, with many of them contributing to past journal articles.

Clark Stanford, dean of Iowa Dentistry, said, “With Dr. Prakasam’s leadership and his excellence in teaching, research, and discovery, the Department of Periodontics is in steady hands. We are excited to see where he will lead this strong department into the future!”