Dr. Lauren Surface is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences and Prosthodontics at the University of Michigan. Dr. Surface received her bachelor’s of science degree in neurobiology from the University of Washington. She received her Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying the role of chromatin in embryonic stem cell lineage commitment. Her postdoctoral research was done at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, where her work utilized genome-wide association to understand the response of osteogenic cells to drugs and mineral ions. She is the recipient of the NIH/NIAMS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Grant, and is a UM Biological Sciences Scholar.