Simmer Hu Lab

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry

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RESEARCH

The Simmer Hu laboratory studies tooth development, focusing on the human genetics of developmental anomalies of the dentition and using mouse models to understand how proteins encoded by genes function during normal tooth development and how their mutations lead to failures in such process.

The ultimate goal of our research is to apply scientific discoveries toward devising therapeutic measures for human disorders and diseases involving teeth.

The Simmer Hu lab played important parts in the first cloning of cDNA encoding enamelin (Enam), matrix metallowproteinase 20 (Mmp20) and kallikrein 4 (Klk4), and in the initial discoveries that MMP20, ITGB6 and FAM83H defects cause isolated amelogenesis imperfecta and that defects in FAM20A cause Enamel Renal Syndrome. These studies have greatly advanced our understanding of normal tooth development and associated disorders, leading to improvements in their diagnosis, prognosis and intervention.


simmer hu lab group photo

DIRECTORS

james simmer

James P. Simmer, DDS, PhD
Professor, Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

[email protected] | (734) 764-4676

Dr. Simmer is Professor in the Department of Biologic and Material Sciences. He received his DDS degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1980, and received his PhD in Biochemistry from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1990. He also did post-doctoral training with Dr. Hal Slavkin, at the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology in the University of Southern California School of Dentistry in Los Angeles, California. Before coming to Michigan, Dr. Simmer was an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Dr. Simmer possesses excellent research and teaching credentials. His research interests are in the area of tooth development, enamel and dentin formation, biochemistry and molecular biology of amelogenins, and hypophosphatasia and amelogenesis imperfecta.

jan hu

Jan C.C. Hu, BDS, PhD
Samuel D. Harris Collegiate Professor of Dentistry
Chair, Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

[email protected] | (734) 763-6769

Dr. Hu completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from National Taiwan University in 1985. She earned a specialty certificate in pediatric dentistry and a PhD in craniofacial biology (1990) at the University of Southern California, completed a postdoctoral fellowship in craniofacial molecular biology and held the position of clinical assistant professor. In 1993, she joined the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio where she was promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure in 1999.

Dr. Hu joined the U-M School of Dentistry in 2002 as an associate professor with tenure. In 2005 she was named the director of pediatric dentistry and in 2006 was promoted to full professor. She directs the Oral Health Sciences PhD program since November 2010. Dr. Hu’s research concentrates on tooth development and dental genetics; her clinical research interests focus on pulp biology and therapy.

PROJECTS

LAB TEAM

james simmer

James P. Simmer, DDS, PhD
Professor, Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

[email protected]

jan hu

Jan C. C. Hu, BDS, PhD
Samuel D. Harris Collegiate Professor of Dentistry
Chair, Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

[email protected]

charles smith

Charles E. Smith
Adjunct Research Scientist
Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University

[email protected]

chuhua zhang

Chuhua Zhang, BMD
Research Lab Technician Lead

[email protected]

lisa hong zhang

Lisa Hong Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

[email protected]

tian liang

Hui Li, PhD
Research Laboratory Specialist Lead

[email protected]


ALUMNI & COLLABORATORS

Paul J. Benke, MD, PhD (Collaborator)
Director, Clinical Genetics
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Hollywood, FL 33021

Sandra Chan, DDS, MS (Collaborator)
Taipei Medical University School of Dentistry
Taipei, Taiwan

Yong-Hee Chun, DDS, MS, PhD (Collaborator)
Associate Professor, UT Health
San Antonio, TX

Lorenza A. Donnelly, DDS
OMS Fellow, UNC Adams School of Dentistry
Chapel Hill, NC

Makoto Fukae, DDS, PhD (Collaborator)
Emeritus Professor
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine
Yokohama, Japan

Rebecca C. Freeman
Speech-language pathologist
Eastern Michigan University

Nina C. Hardy
DDS class of 2027
University of Michigan School of Dentistry

Curtis C. Herzog, DDS
OMS Fellow, University of Michigan School of Dentistry
Ann Arbor, MI

Takanori Iwata, DDS, PhD
Professor and Chair of Periodontology
Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Tokyo, Japan

Jung-Wook Kim, DDS, PhD (Collaborator)
Department of Molecular Genetics
Department of Pediatric Dentistry & Dental Research Institute
School of Dentistry, Seoul National University

Kazuyuki Kobayashi, DMD, PhD
Professor
Tsurumi Junior College
Yokohama, Japan

Yuhe Lu, DDS, MS, PhD
Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
Boston, MA

Takatoshi Nagano, DDS, PhD
Associate Professor
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine

Stephanie Núñez, DDS, PhD
Arlington, VA

Amelia S Richardson, DDS
University of Michigan School of Dentistry

Mari Saito, DDS, PhD
Assistant Professor
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine
Yokohama, Japan

Ana Lucia Seminario, DDS, PhD (collaborator)
Associate Professor Pediatric Dentistry
University of Washington School of Dentistry

Allison Scully, DDS, MS (Collaborator)
Assistant Professor, Pediatric Dentistry
Indiana University School of Dentistry

Prof. Dr. Figen Seymen (Collaborator)
Altınbaş Üniversitesi, Faculty of Dentistry
Istanbul, Turkey

Takako Tanabe, DDS, PhD (Collaborator)
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine
Yokohama, Japan

Shuhei Tsuchiya, DDS, PhD
AInstitute of Medical Science
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Yuko Ujiie, DDS, PhD
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine
Yokohama, Japan

Shih-Kai Wang, DDS, PhD (Collaborator)
Associate Professor, National Taiwan University
Taipei City, Taiwan

John Timothy Wright, DDS, MS (Collaborator)
James W. Bawden Distinguished Professor
University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry

Jack Jie Yang, DDS, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatric Dentistry
Peking University School of Stomatology
Beijing, China

Yasuo Yamakoshi, PhD (Collaborator)
Professor, Tsurumi University School of Dentistry
Tsurumi, Japan

Mengqi Zhou, DDS, PhD
Assistant Professor
Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, College of Somatology
Shanghai, China

*Please let us know if you need your information updated or if you would like to be added or removed from this list.

CONTACT

Simmer Hu Lab
Dental Research Lab
University of Michigan School of Dentistry
NCRC B10
2800 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800
Phone: (734) 763-6769
Email: [email protected]