Alexandria, VA, USA – The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) has announced Lindsey Criswell as the 2024 recipient of the IADR Honorary Membership. Criswell, from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, was recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA.
Criswell became the director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in February 2021. Prior to joining NIAMS, she was Vice Chancellor of Research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). A board-certified rheumatologist, Criswell was also a professor of rheumatology and a professor of orofacial sciences at UCSF. She has a Bachelor’s degree in genetics and a Master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MD from UCSF. She earned a DSc in genetic epidemiology from the Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences, Rotterdam. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology.
Between 1994 and the time she became NIAMS director, Criswell was a principal investigator on multiple NIH grants and published more than 250 peer-reviewed journal papers. Her research focused on the genetics and epidemiology of human autoimmune disease, particularly rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Using genome-wide association and other genetic studies, her research team contributed to the identification of more than 30 genes linked to these disorders. Additionally, Criswell has been PI of multiple genomic studies of Sjögren’s Disease and is the Co-PI of the Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance Next Generation Studies (SICCA-NextGen). In 2021, Criswell was elected to the Association of American Physicians, an honor extended to physicians with outstanding credentials in biomedical research. Criswell’s other honors include the Kenneth H. Fye, MD endowed chair in rheumatology and the Jean S. Engleman distinguished professorship in rheumatology at UCSF, and the Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology. She was also named UCSF’s 2014 Resident Clinical and Translational Research Mentor of the Year.
IADR Honorary Membership is granted by the five most recent living IADR past presidents who are no longer serving on the Board and given to a person who has made significant contributions to and/or supports dental, oral, and craniofacial research.
About IADR
The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. IADR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit, and private-sector institutions who share our mission. Learn more at www.iadr.org.