SDM Prof Receives First NIH Grant
Eva Helmerhorst, a SDM assistant professor, received her first grant from the NIH, to study oral fungal infections.
Eva Helmerhorst, an assistant professor in the School of Dental Medicine’s department of periodontology and oral biology, received $162,500 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, for her study “Oral Yeast Carriage and Salivary Antifungal Activity.” The two-year grant marks Helmerhorst’s first award from the NIH.
Helmerhorst’s research focuses on oral candidiasis, an infectious disease that affects patients with compromised immune systems. The fungus Candida albicans, or yeast, is a common and harmless mouth organism in about half of the population. Helmerhorst will use the grant to study the role of naturally occurring antifungal proteins in saliva and explore how they can be used for new treatments.