Dr. Sinem Sahingur

Biography

Sinem Esra Sahingur serves as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Student Research at Penn Dental Medicine. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Periodontics and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology. Dr. Sahingur obtained her DDS from Istanbul University in 1994 and continued her postgraduate training in Oral Sciences/Microbiology and Oral Biology/Immunology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, receiving her MS in 1999 and PhD in 2004, along with a clinical certificate in periodontology. Before joining Penn Dental Medicine in 2019, she was a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for 13 years, where she earned recognition for her outstanding achievements in research and teaching and received several prestigious awards, including the Dean's Award for Excellence in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. Her research focuses on the role of immune and inflammatory pathways in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease and explores the genetic and epigenetic susceptibilities that link periodontal health to systemic diseases. Dr. Sahingur is an active member of the academic community, serving on NIH study sections and editorial boards for various journals, including the Journal of Dental Research and Molecular Oral Microbiology.

Research Interests