Dentistry

Lakshmyya Kesavalu

Lakshmyya Kesavalu
Associate Professor, Department of Periodontology and Oral Biology
University of Florida, USA

Biography

Lakshmyya Kesavalu was born on February 28 1945 in Asanambut village Tamil Nadu state, India. But he grew up in village later moved to Gudiyatham Vellore for middle high school and college until 1965. He is the first generation in the village and in the family to enter for college education. He was especially interested in sociology and medicine. Parents spouse sacrifice and encouragement drove him to excel his studies and career After his professional Veterinary Medicine degree in 1971and later specialized in Medical Microbiology and Immunology in Premier Medical Institution in 1978 All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi. He moved to USA “The Land of Opportunity” for postdoctoral fellowship in 1986. He was blessed with caring spouse and two daughters After 3 years of mycobacteriology research at Denver Colorado moved to new fascinating area of dental research Periodontal disease pathogenesis at University of Texas at San Antonio in 1989 and later at University of Kentucky in 2000. Since 2006 he is continuing dental research in the Department of Periodontology at University of Florida.

Research Interest

Major research interests are to examine the role of several periodontal pathogens specifically Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, and Fusobacterium nucleatum in the initiation of infection, inflammation, immunity, gene expression, alveolar bone resorption, and progression of periodontal disease. Recently, studying the association between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease (Clinical study) and investigating the role of these pathogens as polymicrobial infection in induction of both periodontal disease and atherosclerosis (basic study). Currently, studies initiated to examine the role of major periodontal pathogens in the development of both Alzheimer’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.