Click Below for Dr. Yilmaz' Lab Website:
https://www.yilmazlab.co
Özlem Yilmaz, DDS, PhD
Professor
Education:
Ph.D., University of Washington
D.D.S., Istanbul University
Professional Experience:
2021-2023: Chair (former Dept. Oral Health Sciences)
2016-pres: Professor, Medical University of South Carolina
2016-pres: Joint Professor (former Dept. Microbiology and Immunology; current
Pharmacology and Immunology)
2010–2015: Associate Professor, University of Florida, Periodontology and Oral Biology
2010-2015: Resident Member of Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida
2006-2010: Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Periodontology and Oral Biology
2002-2006: Post-Doctoral Senior Fellow, University of Washington, School of Public
Health & Community Medicine
2003: Visiting Scholar, Biologie Moléculaire du Géne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Honors and Professional Activities (Selected)
2023-pres: Fellow, Pierre Fauchard Academy
2022: Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
2017-pres: Overseas Fellow, The Royal Society of Medicine, England
2014-2015: University of Florida Research Foundation Professor
2013-2019: Member of NIH Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Diseases (ODCS) Study Panel
2013-2015: Fellow, Academy of Research Excellence in Bioethics, Clinical Translational
Institute University of Florida, College of Medicine
2012-pres: Fellow, Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine
ELAM, Drexel College of Medicine, Drexel University
2012-2024: Academic Editor, PLOS ONE
2013-pres: Associate Editor, Molecular Oral Microbiology
2015: Guest Editor, Microbes and Infection
Special Issue: Oral Pathogens and Microbiome in Health and Disease
2017-pres: Associate Editor, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
2018-pres: Editorial board, Journal of Oral Microbiology
2018-2024: Editorial Board, Scientific Reports
2018-2023: Invited Guest Editor, mBio
2023-2026: Editorial Board Member, Journal of Periodontology
Main Research Interests
Dr. Yilmaz' research focuses on opportunistic bacteria and host interaction. Dr. Yilmaz' lab research is dedicated to discovering the complex molecular interplay between host and periodontopathic bacteria in the induction of microbial dysbiosis and pathophysiology in oral mucosa. Chronic infection by P. gingivalis, a major invasive bacterium, can specifically contribute to a series of severe chronic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and orodigestive cancers. Investigating the intracellular cellular persistence of this pathogen within host can lead to development of rational treatment strategies for P. gingivalis associated diseases.
Selected Publications
Sheridan, M., Chowdhury, N., Wellslager, B., Oleinik, N., Kassir, M.F., Lee, H.G., Engevik, M., Peterson, Y., Pandruvada, S., Szulc, Z.M., Yilmaz, O., Ogretmen, B. (2024). Opportunistic pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis targets the LC3B-ceramide complex and mediates lethal mitophagy resistance in oral tumors, iScience. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.109860.
EurokAlert, June 18 2024, https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1048587 and featured, Interdisciplinary team maps role of P. gingivalis in drug resistance | MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
Patel S, Howard D, Chowdhury N, Derieux C, Wellslager B, Yilmaz O, and French L (2021). Characterization of human genes modulated by Porphyromonas gingivalis highlights the ribosome, hypothalamus, and cholinergic neurons, Frontiers in Immunology, 12:646259. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.646259
Lee, JS, Yilmaz, O (2020). Key Elements of Gingival Epithelial Homeostasis upon Bacterial Interaction”, Invited Review, Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine Section, J of Dental Res, Nov 17;22034520973012. doi:
10.1177/0022034520973012.
Lee, JS, Chowdhury N, Roberts,
JS, and Yilmaz O (2020). Host surface ectonucleotidase-CD73 and the
opportunistic pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, cross-modulation underlies a
new homeostatic mechanism for chronic bacterial survival in human epithelial
cells. Virulence. 11:414-429. doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2020.1763061.
Lee J, Spooner R, Chowdhury N, Pandey V,
Wellslager B, Atanasova K, Evans Z, Yilmaz
O (2020). In
Situ Intraepithelial Localizations of Opportunistic Pathogens, Porphyromonas gingivalis and
Filifactor alocis,
in Human Gingiva. Current Research in Microbial Sciences. 1, 7-17. 10.1016/j.crmicr.2020.05.001.
Olsen I and Yilmaz O (2019). Possible role of Porphyromonas gingivalis in orodigestive cancers. J Oral Microbiol. Jan 9;11(1):1563410. doi: 10.1080/20002297.2018.1563410. eCollection 2019.
Lee K, Roberts JS, Choi C, Atanasova KR, Yilmaz O (2018). Porphyromonas gingivalis Traffics into Endoplasmic Reticulum-Rich-Autophagosomes for Successful Survival in Human Gingival Epithelial Cells, Virulence April 4:126.doi:10.1080/21505594.2018.1454171
Lee J, Roberts JS, Atanasova KR, Chowdhury N and Yilmaz O (2018). A Novel Kinase Function of a Nucleoside-diphosphate-kinase Homolog in P. gingivalis is Critical in Subversion of Host Cell Apoptosis by Targeting Heat-Shock Protein 27,Cell Micro, Jan 22.doi:10.1111/cmi.12825