Martinna Bertolini, DDS, MS, PhD, Pitt Dental Medicine assistant professor, has been awarded the Samuel & Emma Winters Foundation Awards grant. Her grant proposal, titled “Tracking Keratin 6+ Cell expansion in Oropharyngeal Mucosal Sites Post-Candidalbicans Infection: Determining a spatial and temporal relationship,” was awarded funding in the amount of $10,000 for one year, and began on September 1, 2024.
"This award will allow me to investigate key epithelial changes during Candida albicans infection and oral wound healing, helping to develop targeted therapies that mimic natural healing, reduce patient discomfort, and improve recovery times for oral and other mucosal injuries." said Dr. Bertolini.
Dr. Bertolini joins past awardees representing Pitt Medicine, Duquesne University, and Carnegie Mellon University who have received this prestigious, highly-competitive grant.
The Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation awards five to six grants for biomedical research to investigators in the Pittsburgh area each year.