Dr. Pouran Famili is full professor in the Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry and was chair of the department from 2005-14. She holds a secondary appointment as full professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She earned a certificate in periodontics from the School of Dental Medicine Periodontics Residency Program, and received her master’s degree in dental science from the University of Pittsburgh, followed by her DMD. She then earned her MPH followed by a PhD in the field of epidemiology.
Dr. Famili has been a member of the periodontics faculty since 1986 and has served the University and the profession with distinction, becoming a Diplomate in both periodontics and implantology, and a fellow in the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, the American College of Dentists, and the International College of Dentists, among many others. She is active in both the local and national chapters of the dental honorary OKU, and in 2005 was a finalist for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
Her research has at its focus the relationship between periodontal disease and osteoporosis, and subsequently the effects of osteoporosis on dental implant survival. In addition to several publications on both topics, she has received financial grant support to study the relationship between dental implant placement and osteoporosis from the International Congress of Oral Implantologists and from NobelBiocare.
She is a member of both the American Academy for Dental Research and the International Academy for Dental Research and has presented her research nationally and internationally. Dr. Famili has taken great pleasure in working to actively mentor the careers of periodontics residents and dental students throughout her own career at the University of Pittsburgh, and has produced many publications, presentations, and service learning opportunities, presented to peer-reviewed national and international dental and implantology meetings. She regularly peer-reviews research funding proposals for the National Institutes of Health, curriculum tools for the MedEdPortal knowledge website (sponsored jointly by the Association of American Medical Colleges and ADEA), and scholarly articles for many different journals in the dental press.
She is very active in academic dentistry, participating in the American Dental Education Association’s Women’s Affairs and Minority Affairs Committees, often presenting symposium topics regarding implantology, mentoring, or the first professional education of young dentists. Dr. Famili practices periodontics exclusively in the University of Pittsburgh faculty practice, University Dental Health Services.