Dr. Alexandre R. Vieira is the Director of Clinical Research and Director of Student Research for the School of Dental Medicine.  Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Vieira took a route north that brought him to the University of Pittsburgh after stopping at the University of Iowa for almost six years for post-doctoral training in human molecular genetics under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey Murray.   Dr. Vieira received his DDS from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), did a residency in special needs patients at the Brazilian Dental Association – Rio de Janeiro section, followed by training in Pediatric Dentistry with MS and Ph.D. degrees in Genetics back at the UFRJ.  Dr. Vieira is currently a professor in the Department of Oral Biology, with secondary appointments in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Dr. Vieira also worked in the Latin American Birth Defects Registry ECLAMC, and pioneered the collection of biological samples in that multi-country study in 1997. Currently, he combines his background in pediatric dentistry and genetics to develop a research program that aims to provide a better understanding of common dental traits of complex etiology.

He has created the Dental Registry and DNA Repository (DRDR), the only project in the world to keep DNA samples linked to a comprehensive dataset of dental clinical information. Dr. Vieira has also created the SDM Clinical Research Scholars Program, which supports eight clinical assistant professors in their research activities.

Education

Academic Department