Dr. Dana Graves Q&A

DR. DANA GRAVES

Vice Dean for Scholarship and Research Director, Doctor of Science in Dentistry Program Professor, Dept. of Periodontics

BA in Chemistry, SUNY at Binghamton; DDS, Columbia University; Periodontology, Harvard University; DMSc in Oral Biology, Harvard University

What are your current research projects? My research projects are driven by grants and I have three major projects in distinct areas. One of the projects involves the human oral microbiome, which is quite exciting, and I am very fortunate to work with Dr. Pat Corby in the Center for Clinical and Translational Research. The others involve different aspects of diabetes and use animal models. One is focused on periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is significantly affected by diabetes, and I am interested in the cellular dysregulation that occurs. Another project involves wound healing, which is also affected by diabetes.

What qualities do you admire or think are important in researchers? I think researchers admire creativity, so having a creative solution to a difficult question is important. For example, you may want to prove something, but to do so effectively may require a creative approach; both the idea and approach to testing it require creativity. There are many levels where creativity can be important. The ability to interact with other people in an academic environment is very critical. You need to communicate with your lab members so they do the right things and understand the research process. You have to communicate your results to other researchers and convince other people that what you are doing is useful. So, communication is a critical component of research. I also admire the ability to remain calm and thoughtful when things do not go well, to deal with setbacks, and to take a logical approach to solving problems.

What was the most difficult time in your research? How did you get over it? Setbacks happen frequently and there are various types. You have hypotheses which are incorrect, or in my case, I had a hypothesis that was generally correct but did not fit the specific situation. I had a hypothesis that a chemotactic factor would be critical for recruitment of monocytes in the formation of osteoclasts. The model I used was tooth eruption. It so happens that the hypothesis was true for most situations, but for tooth eruption, it was not true. I used a genetically modified mouse which had a gene deletion of a chemotactic factor that recruited monocytes – but the deletion had no effect on tooth eruption. The chemotactic factor did not play a role in tooth eruption. However, it was important in most other situations where osteoclasts are formed. The setback was that I published a paper disproving the hypothesis in the tooth eruption model I was testing, so I lost funding for that particular project. In another situation, there was a viral infection of the mouse colony so all the mice involved in the research projects were euthanized. It cost over $100,000 to regain the mice that were lost and for one year all the projects stopped. We overcame this by studying tissue specimens from projects that had been done previously. Thus, we were able to continue producing results, collecting data, and writing papers, but not for the original project. We had to wait until the mice were re-derived. Things go wrong but can often can be overcome.

Any advice for students who are interested in research? First of all, I think a research experience is very valuable from a very practical standpoint and secondly, it provides an opportunity to be a part of something that really is hard to find elsewhere. From a practical aspect, research is the most effective way to teach critical thinking. The enrichment aspect comes from the ability to test an idea or to examine something new. There are many rewards, including a sense of accomplishment, that come with participating in original research.