Lasting Impressions | Fall 2017

32 © NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 33 he arrival of Alexan- dru Movila, Ph.D., at the NSU College of Dental Medicine reunites him with mentor Toshihisa Kawai, D.D.S., Ph.D. The partnership also continues the research they began together at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is one of the leading centers for dental and craniofacial research in the world. Kawai, a professor in the CDM’s Department of Periodontology and a senior investigator in the NSU Cell Therapy Institute at NSU’s Center for Collaborative Research (CCR), was affiliated with the Forsyth Institute for 23 years before arriving at NSU in October 2016. Kawai was chair in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at Forsyth when Movila arrived in 2013 as a National Institutes of Health research fellow. His expertise was invaluable to Kawai at Forsyth and will be equally indispens- able to the CDM. “Prior to Alex joining Forsyth, he had been engaged in the parasitology and neuro-immunology for the study of cerebral malaria at New York Uni- versity, where he mastered the funda- mentals of intravital imaging,” Kawai said. “The imaging technique allows researchers to capture biological processes in mammalian cell biology in live animals to provide insight into disease processes in cells in real time. Kawai and Movila will research osteoimmunology in periodontitis, peri-implantitis, periaphical perion- dititis, and other diseases that devel- op bone lytic lesions. “The goal,” according to Kawai, “will be to gain molecular and immunological insights into the parthenogenesis of certain oral bone lytic diseases, and to develop a novel therapeutic regiment and diagnosis tool for these bone lytic disorders.” For Movila, who arrived at the CDM in July, it’s also the chance for him to further his science in a related, yet different, direction. At Forsyth, he was already conducting scientific research supported by the National Institute on Aging aimed at improving life for the aging population, which involved exploring the molecular and genetic basis of age-dependent bone loss. Movila’s research focused on the pathological destruction of bone tissue, known as osteolysis, created by joint replacement and implant surgery—hip and knee replacements— in his former studies. Now, he’ll work in both directions looking at perioimplants. “Dr. Movila brings skills and expertise to the university that will complement the research we are doing at the NSU Cell Therapy Institute,” said Richard Jove, Ph.D., who directs the institute’s laboratories located at the CCR. “We believe that the College of Dental Medicine’s addition of Dr. Movila will be another important step in our collaborative research with the CDM, particularly in the areas of stem cell regenerative medicine and immunology that will advance treatments of periodontal diseases.” Kawai says his collaboration with Movila at Forsyth was moving toward incredible breakthroughs. With Kawai’s know-how in the inner workings of monoclonal antibodies— antibodies made by identical immune cells that are clones of a unique parent cell—combined with Movila’s intravival imaging technology skills, their research led to developments of what Kawai said were “a variety of novel, real-time, analytical systems to monitor activities of lymphocytes and bone cells.” There was a “paradigm shift” based on the partnership, Kawai explained. “Bone resorbing cells (osteoclasts) in blood circulation migrate into the wear-debris-induced bone lytic lesion, which is a model of peri-implantitis, via a locally produced, unique chemotaxis molecule called macrophage migra- tion inhibitory factor. Since the classic consensus supported that osteoclasts Researchers Reunite BY MICHELLE F. SOLOMON at the CDM T Alexandru Movila, left, and Toshihisa Kawai are conducting research as it relates to diseases that develop bone lytic lesions.