Kevin M. Byrd

Dr. Kevin Matthew Byrd, DDS, Ph.D. is currently the Anthony R. Volpe Research Scholar and Manager of Oral & Craniofacial Research at ADA Science & Research Institute (ADASRI). He is a clinician-scientist who completed his DDS at the University of Michigan in 2013 and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry (UNC ASOD) in 2018. Recently, he served as research faculty in the UNC ASOD Division of Oral & Craniofacial Health Sciences. Dr. Byrd has received numerous research and clinical honors and held various professional affiliations and memberships—including service in the ADA as a Success Speaker and consultant to the Council of Scientific Affairs. Dr. Byrd’s research has focused on understanding oral stem cell heterogeneity and how their extrinsic and intrinsic regulation contributes to wound healing and head and neck cancers. He has expanded his scope recently through active collaborations across the world to apply advanced technologies to catalog the oral and oropharyngeal tissues at single cell resolution, leading to his appointment as the Coordinator for the new Human Cell Atlas Oral & Craniofacial Biological Network. His research has been supported by industry, foundations, and the NIH, including: the Training Program for the Next Generation of Oral Health Researchers (T90); 2 NIH/NIDCR Loan Repayment Program awards (L40); and a five-year Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08). At the ADASRI, he remains committed to continuing collaborations across disciplines and universities--from basic science discoveries to clinical applications to benefit human health. In his new role, he is interested in continuing to explore 1) oral epithelial stem regulation and heterogeneity in health and disease, 2) technologies to model and improve oral wound healing and soft tissue grafting, 3) the role of the oral cavity in systemic disease, and 4) continuing work to contribute to the human cell atlas for categorizing the unique and undiscovered cell types among the diverse oral and craniofacial tissues.