Faculty Profile: Joshua Emrick

A neuroscientist and his team work on the mysteries of the oral cavity

Amid the complexity and challenge of scientific discovery, Joshua Emrick embraces another aspect of his research at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. That is the human and personal element.

He manages a research team of 14 members, each in various stages of career development. Those relationships and the satisfaction Emrick derives from them are a pillar of his professional character, a product of his own training, where he learned the value of both hard work and empathy.

“Thinking deeply with another human, another scientist, that’s some of the best work that I get to do,” he said during an interview in his sixth floor office across from his lab in the Research Tower of the dental school.

Emrick is an assistant professor in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics. He earned his DDS and PhD in oral and craniofacial biology from the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco School of Dentistry. Prior to joining Michigan in 2021, Emrick conducted his postdoctoral studies as a Dental Clinical Research Fellow at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in Bethesda, Md.

Emrick describes himself as a neuroscientist who also happens to have clinical training in dentistry. He has a particular interest in the molecular, cellular and anatomical basis of how neurons detect and deliver information from the head and oral cavity to our brain.

He once summed up the pragmatic goal of his research this way: “Our rich oral sensory experience includes exquisite tactile ability as well as debilitating TMJ pain or toothaches. With a better understanding of these mechanisms, we hope to alleviate the nastier experiences for human patients.”

Emrick’s team uses mouse models and a suite of state-of-the-art techniques to visualize microscopic neural endings and deduce what information they are sensing and sending to the brain. The goal is to produce an anatomical and functional map of the sensory architecture of a range of oral tissues in mice and humans including the teeth, salivary glands, and the jaw joint. That will allow researchers to determine how the nerves contribute to healthy tissue function and also what may cause pain.

Along with the potential public good of his research, Emrick takes deep pleasure in communicating with, motivating and supporting his team. “The bedrock is that we can communicate,” Emrick said. “Once I make the decision to include someone on the team I really try to be in full support. That could mean, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about this experiment.’ Or, ‘Hey, I can’t be in because my car broke down.’ I try to be as reasonable as possible, because when people feel like they have an advocate, they flourish.”

The lab team consists of a post-doc fellow and a research investigator, both of whom aspire to lead research programs; a dental student; two technicians, one of which is responsible for day-to-day lab operations; and three graduate students (two PhD students in neuroscience and one DDS/PhD trainee in the oral health sciences program).

Along with equipment and technology that radiate advanced science, Emrick’s lab abounds with personal touches. An “It’s A Wonderful Life” sign adorns an outside posting wall. After hearing the costs of repainting the lab, Emrick instead urged team members to put up fun indicators of trips they’ve taken or other personal items. It’s all part of the creative current and evolution of the team.

“When the lab first started,” Emrick said. “I was the genesis of a lot of the techniques we needed to learn. Yet I understood it would benefit everyone if I wasn’t totally steering it. Even if I do enjoy being at the bench.”

Emrick has a ready answer when asked for one word to describe his work in lay terms, which is also his vehicle license plate: SENSE. “What I like to do is to try to make some sense,” he said. “After all, we are also a sensory biology lab. Sense – we need more of it in the world. We in the lab try to make sense of it. We study sensation.”

Then there’s the grand sense of discovery itself, what Emrick terms “chipping away at this monolith of the unknown.”

That means examining tooth pain, a question that has both scientific and everyday, clinical relevance. “I’ve experienced tooth pain,” Emrick said. “Through our work, we can not only contribute to our understanding, but we do have relevance to a real human problem.”

Like many Dental School professors, Emrick maintains a clinical practice, where he of course often treats pain. “I take a lot of teeth out,” he said. “A lot of the disease is catastrophic and ends up in infection and extractions. I’m happy I can resolve pain acutely like that, but long term through this research I hope to alleviate pain. Without even taking a tooth out, that would be great.”

Emrick graduated from U-M in 2009. He majored in neuroscience, earning highest honors and completing the prerequisites to enter health professional school. Knowing he liked to help people, he aspired to be some sort of a practitioner. Such a focus helped organize his college and resume-building activities, including landing a spot during his sophomore year in the U-M anesthesiology lab of Gina Poe, a renowned researcher and mentor now at UCLA.

Emrick also volunteered at a local dental clinic where he began to consider the idea of combining dental practice with research. It would offer patient interaction, deep relationships and performing microsurgeries on teeth. “The more I weighed that option, I thought this could be a really good opportunity,” he said.

Emrick, who grew up in the Flint area, knew he’d likely have to move away to find the right program. He applied to five dual programs and decided on the University of California at San Francisco, which had excellent curriculum combining DDS and PhD studies.

His work in the renowned lab of Nobel Prize recipient Dr. David Julius was challenging and highly instructive. “That was a very, very strong lab,” Emrick said. “Ultimately, I learned a lot about myself and how to work hard and stay focused. The training experience was very humbling. I learned how to be a scientist.”

Emrick’s next step, postdoctoral work in the lab of Dr. Nicholas Ryba at NIDCR, proved enjoyable and formative. “Nick’s one of the best scientists and people I’ve met in my life,” Emrick said. “He definitely influenced how I try to run my lab – the messaging and how we conceptualize our efforts – knowing what we can achieve with our lives and with science simultaneously and have some fun in the process.”

Emrick adores Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, a love sparked by his fulfilling undergraduate days. He left Ann Arbor for San Francisco with the goal of returning to the place where he has long rooted for the U-M sports teams. He understood that the scholarly world doesn’t automatically grant such wishes, but his dream came true.

The U-M dental school wanted a neuroscientist with his background in molecular sensory biology and cell physiology and circuitry, a match made in Emrick’s version of academic heaven. “Michigan and Ann Arbor became part of my identity,” Emrick said of his college days. “It was core to me. I wanted to come back home to live here with my wife and kids. It really is a special thing to be able to match my interests and the school’s needs.”