Oral Mucosal Immunity Consortium

OMIC News

Uttamani named 2023 Windsweep Farm OMIC Scholar Juhi R. Uttamani, DDS, PhD, has been selected as the second Windsweep Farm Oral Mucosal Immunity Consortium (OMIC) Scholar. She has a Certificate of Specialty-Advanced Postgraduate Periodontics and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and she is currently Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa. This award comes with a $50,000 grant to support her pilot project entitled “Deciphering the Role of miRNAs in Peri-implantitis Pathogenesis."

Stolley and Masopust receive OMIC Windsweep Farm Pilot Grant Drs. J. Michael Stolley and David Masopust, co-principal investigators from the University of Minnesota, received the 2021 OMIC Windsweep Farm Pilot Grant for their project, "Resident Memory T Cells in the Oral Mucosa."

Our Mission

The mission of the Oral Mucosal Immunity Consortium (OMIC) is the study of the oral immune cell response to microbial and carcinogenic stimuli introduced into the oral cavity and to generate quality research advancing knowledge in the field of oral mucosal immunology. Specific research endeavors include but are not limited to immune response to pathogens and carcinogenic agents, periodontal regeneration, oral mucosal wound healing and cell signaling pathways.

The OMIC represents a multi-center collaboration of clinical and basic science researchers with a goal of sharing knowledge and ideas to better understand how the oral mucosal systems function when healthy and in the presence of disease. 

OMIC Faculty Members

• University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry and University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and National Jewish Health
• University of Minnesota–Twin Cities
• University of Iowa–Iowa City

OMIC Annual Symposium

The 2^nd Annual Oral Mucosal Immunity Consortium (OMIC) Symposium was held on Monday, September 19, 2022 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry.

The Keynote Speaker, Elizabeth Redente, PhD, National Jewish Health and University of Colorado, presented “Determining the Potential of Fibroblasts to Undergo Appropriate Apoptosis During Homeostatic Fibrosis Resolution.”

The 2022 Windsweep Farm Scholar, Michael Stolley, PhD, University of Minnesota, presented “Oral Resident Memory T Cells: A Taste of Things to Come.”

Other presentations included:

• Shaoping Zhang, PhD, University of Iowa, "Type I Interferon Plays a Protective Role in the Ligature-Induced Periodontitis."
• Paula C. Schlemmer, DDS and Amy C. Killeen, DDS, MS, University of Nebraska Medical Center, "Association of Periodontal Inflammation on Immune Response in Wound Healing."
• Thomas M. Petro, PhD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, "IL-33, the M2 Alarmin Cytokine, Modulates Innate Anti-microbial Immune Responses of Macrophages with IRF3 Dependence."

OMIC Journal Club

The OMIC Journal Club meets once monthly via Zoom for a one hour paper presentation and informal but enlightening discussion. For more information, contact Dr. Amy Killeen at akilleen@unmc.edu.

Travel Awards

• Travel awards of $500 are awarded to graduate students, postdocs, fellows or research scientists to encourage their attendance at the annual OMIC symposium.
• Awards are based on merit and awardees are required to present (oral presentation and/or poster) at the annual symposium.
• Awardees must be active participants in the OMIC consortium.