Nisha D’Silva is the Donald Kerr Endowed Collegiate Professor of Oral Pathology at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Professor of Pathology at the Medical School, and Rogel Scholar at the Rogel Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a dentist-scientist; Dr. D’Silva is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, which is her area of clinical practice. She enjoys teaching dental students. She also mentors PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty and is the recipient of multiple mentorship awards. Her translational research in oral and oropharyngeal cancers focuses on tumor development, progression and treatment resistance. She is President of the American Association of Dental Oral and Craniofacial Research. Dr. D’Silva has been the recipient of multiple National Institutes of Health grants and is currently funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and by the National Cancer Institute. She has published 115 scientific papers.

Kıvanç Bektaş Kayhan was born in İzmir, Türkiye, in 1976. She graduated from the Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry in 2000 and, in the same year, was admitted to the PhD program in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the same institution. In 2006, she completed her doctoral thesis entitled “Investigation of L-myc Gene Polymorphism in Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma” and received the degree of Dr. Med. Dent.
Prof. Kayhan continued her academic career within the same department, earning the title of Associate Professor in 2013 and Full Professor in 2022. She is currently a faculty member in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry, where she continues her academic, clinical, and research activities.
She is the co-author of a book with Prof. Dr. Meral Ünür, has contributed chapters to several national and international books, and has published more than 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, she has received two international scientific awards in recognition of her academic contributions.
Her primary research interests include oral oncology, medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ), oral potentially malignant disorders, and the oral complications of systemic diseases and cancer therapies.
She serves as;
ISOO (International Society of Oral Oncology) Board Member,
Member of FDI Scientific Committee,
ACBID, Turkish Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Society, Medication Related Osteonecrosis of Jaws (MRONJ) Working Group Chair,
Member of Foreign Relations Commission in Turkish Dental Association
Delegate of İstanbul Chamber of Dentists
She continues to work as a working group member in international associations such as Multinational Association of Supportive Care for Cancer (MASCC), EAOM (European Association of Oral Medicine).