Two faculty members in the UAB School of Dentistry have been promoted to associate professor, effective October 1, 2025.
Po-Hsu Chen, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H., joined the Department of Restorative Sciences in 2020 and currently serves as interim division director and faculty group manager of the Comprehensive Care Clinic. He teaches across preclinical and clinical prosthodontics, including courses in fixed and removable prosthodontics, implant dentistry, and comprehensive care clinics for third- and fourth-year dental students. His research spans prosthodontics, maxillofacial prosthetics, dental materials, digital dentistry, and public health dentistry. Chen is an associate scientist in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) and a member of the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network. In 2024, he was named the inaugural Dr. A.M. Christopher, Jr. Endowed Faculty Scholar, and in 2025 he received the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the UAB National Alumni Society’s Young Alumni Rising Star Award.
Ejvis Lamani, D.M.D., Ph.D., has served as a clinician scientist in the Department of Orthodontics since 2015 and is the director of research. A graduate of UAB’s dual D.M.D./Ph.D. program, Lamani teaches in the predoctoral and post-doctoral orthodontic program. She co-directs Track I of the Dental Academic Research Training (DART) program and mentors students in clinical and research settings. Her research focuses on dental and craniofacial anomalies, genotype-phenotype correlations, and the genetic basis of root resorption and tooth agenesis. She was recently awarded a grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to investigate new molecules in tooth and root developmental anomalies. Through interdisciplinary collaboration with the Heersink School of Medicine, she is also exploring potential links between dental anomalies and cancer risk. Lamani is the associate director the Global Center for Craniofacial, Oral and Dental Disorders (GC-CODED), a scientist in the Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, Bone, and Autoimmunity Center (CAMBAC), and an associate scientist in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Lamani also served as president of the Alabama Section of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research for the 2024–2025 term and was a member of the 2022–2023 Blaze Leadership Academy cohort.
These promotions reflect continued advancement in academic rank and responsibility and underscore the school’s commitment to supporting faculty in their teaching, research, and service missions.