overview

• Professor and Assistant Dean of Research. He is the Principal Investigator and Program Director of the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine's Endowment Fund. He has secured infrastructure grants to promote capacity-building activities centered on health disparities in Puerto Rico. In 1997 and 2011, our group conducted island-wide studies to assess the oral health status of 12-year-olds in Puerto Rico. We identified persistent health disparities by gender, with a higher prevalence in girls than boys, and by school type, with a higher prevalence in public schools compared to private schools. He served on the National Advisory Dental & Craniofacial Research Council of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Elías will continue strengthening the pipeline for new minority researchers by supporting research-training opportunities for students and young faculty. He has conducted numerous clinical studies evaluating dental therapeutics to prevent and control dental caries and gingivitis. He is the Research Integrity Officer for the UPR Medical Sciences Campus.