Ann Arbor, MI — June 6, 2010 — Promotions of four School of Dentistry faculty members were recently approved by the University of Michigan. 

Regents approved the promotion of Yvonne Kapila, DDS, PhD to professor of dentistry with tenure, from associate professor of dentistry with tenure in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine. 

Kapila has been with the University of Michigan School of Dentistry since 2004. Her research focuses on how the extracellular matrix regulates the life and death of cells in conditions such as inflammation, which is encountered in periodontal disease, and during the process of cancer progression in oral squamous cell carcinomas.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford in 1986, a dental degree from the University of California-San Francisco in 1990, a certificate in periodontics from UCSF in 1994, and a doctoral degree, also from UCSF, in 1997.

She recently accepted a leadership role coordinating global initiatives for the School of Dentistry and will work with the leadership team to develop a globalization strategy for the School.

The U-M Provost approved the promotions of:

Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, DDS, PhD to clinical professor of dentistry from clinical associate professor of dentistry in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Dentistry since June 2010, Murdoch-Kinch has been extensively involved in developing the School’s new curriculum, including its science foundation component.  She oversees the predoctoral curriculum, chairs the Curriculum Committee, and is an ex-officio member of Academic Review Boards and Multicultural Affairs Committee.

She earned her dental degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1985 and a PhD from Indiana University in 1996.  In addition to practicing dentistry and teaching part time in Canada and Indiana, she also held a faculty appointment at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry for six years prior to joining the U-M School of Dentistry faculty in 2000.  Since 2005, she has been a member of the U-M Health System’s Comprehensive Cancer Center’s head and neck oncology program.

Domenica Sweier, DDS, PhD, to clinical associate professor of dentistry from clinical assistant professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics.

Assistant director of the School of Dentistry’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program, Sweier teaches in both the graduate and undergraduate dental clinics; directs the geriatric dentistry course for third-year dental and dental hygiene students; co-directs the infection and immunity course for first-year dental students; and lectures on caries risk management.  Her research investigates host parasite interactions in periodontal disease.  Sweier recently participated in the American Dental Education Association’s Leadership Institute, a 12-month program that offers dental educators and administrators from around the country opportunities to enhance their leadership skills. 

Louise O’Brien, PhD, to associate research scientist from assistant research scientist with the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry.

A faculty member with the dental and medical school since 2006, O’Brien earned her PhD in newborn physiology in the United Kingdom in 1998.  After completing postdoctoral work in maternal and infant health research, she relocated to the U.S. in 2001 to train in pediatric sleep research. 

O’Brien’s research interests include the neuro-behavioral consequences of sleep-disordered breathing in children and sleep in children with medical problems such as cleft palate repair, craniofacial anomalies, and Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects about one in 10,000 people worldwide.  She has published 45 original manuscripts and over a dozen reviews and book chapters.