Dr. Maria Luísa Leite DDS, MSc, PhD

Dr. Maria Luísa Leite is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Operative Dentistry & Dental Materials. She holds a DDS degree, as well as MSc and PhD degrees in Oral Rehabilitation, along with a clinical specialty in Prosthodontics, from São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil. During her PhD, Dr. Leite received a one-year scholarship for full-time research at the Department of Oral Biological and Medical Sciences (OBMS), University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver. This research led to the development of a novel calcium silicate-coated porous chitosan scaffold as a cell-free tissue engineering system for direct pulp capping. Her exceptional work earned her the prestigious Paffenbarger Award from the Academy of Dental Materials (ADM). 

Dr. Leite's dedication to academia secured her a full-time Postdoctoral Research & Teaching Fellowship in the Department of Oral Health Science at UBC, Vancouver, from December 2021 to August 2024, providing her with a comprehensive professional experience aligned with her current role. She has published numerous manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and has been successful in obtaining research funding, including the esteemed Rafael Bowen Early-Stage Investigator Collaborative Research Award from ADM in 2022 (US$20,000). This award supports impactful research in dental biomaterials and fosters collaborations across institutions.

Dr. Leite is also a member of the Advancing Multifunctional Dental Biomaterials (AMDB) research excellence cluster, comprising 14 experts worldwide in fields such as Engineering, Chemistry, Microbiology, and Dental Materials Sciences. Their collaborative efforts focus on developing smart dental materials with biocompatible, bioactive, antimicrobial, physical, and chemical properties tailored to specific oral health needs.

In her research program, Dr. Leite focuses on three main areas to address disorders and diseases related to craniofacial, oral, and dental tissues: (i) tissue engineering models for dentistry and medicine; (ii) the development of novel bioactive and biocompatible dental biomaterials; and (iii) antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and photobiomodulation approaches in oral health.