Rate My Professor Sunday Akintoye

Sunday O. Akintoye is a Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, serving as Director of the Oral Medicine Research Program and Director of the Master of Oral Health Sciences Program. He earned his BDS from the University of Lagos Dental School in 1980, DDS from New York University College of Dentistry in 1995, and MS in Oral Biology from New York University in 1998. Akintoye completed an Oral Medicine clinical research training fellowship and postdoctoral training in the Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research/National Institutes of Health from 1998 to 2003. He joined the standing faculty at Penn Dental Medicine in 2003, advancing to full professor.

A clinician-scientist, Akintoye's research centers on basic and translational investigations into metabolic bone disorders, orofacial complications of cancer therapies, and cancer health disparities. His studies on fibrous dysplasia delineated dental features of maxillo-mandibular involvement in McCune-Albright syndrome. He explores the unique growth, lifespan, and regenerative properties of human orofacial bone mesenchymal stem cells compared to non-oral sites, their modulatory roles in jaw osteonecrosis pathogenesis, and potential for therapeutic grafting in maxillofacial defects. Akintoye also addresses racial disparities in odontogenic neoplasms, particularly ameloblastoma recurrence. His work has garnered funding from the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute on Aging), American Cancer Society, University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation, Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders, and Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Featured in National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research spotlights, he served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Lagos Faculty of Dental Sciences in 2015/2016, teaching research methodologies and mentoring faculty and students. Awards include the Herschfus Memorial Award (2018), Joseph and Josephine Rabinowitz Awards for Research Excellence (2004, 2017), and Lester William Burket Research Award (2002). Akintoye chairs committees for the American Academy of Oral Medicine, serves on its Board of Trustees since 2011, and holds editorial roles as Associate Editor for Oral Diseases (2014-present), among others.