BUSDM’s First Fulbright Scholar to Research Abroad

Dr. John Bowley, associate professor of restorative sciences and biomaterials, will spend nearly five of the next 11 months on two sabbaticals, one of which will be funded by the very first Fulbright scholarship awarded to BUSDM faculty.

Bowley first will head to New Zealand, where from late October through mid-January he will work with Professor Michael Swain at the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry.

With Swain, Bowley will compare mathematically-derived stress-strain and flexion calculations to published in vitro laboratory data in maxillary premolars. Bowley hopes to better explain the flexion behavior of tooth enamel and dentine.

Taipei Medical University in Taiwan is where Bowley next year will spend July and August as a Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor. Working with Dr. Thomas Wen-Fu Lai, Bowley will research tissue regeneration in the temporomandibular joint. He also will help Lai–who is a US-trained periodontist but not a native English speaker–translate some of his work.

Bowley, who in September celebrated his third anniversary at BUSDM, is grateful for the opportunity for professional development and for the support and encouragement of colleagues. Among those instrumental in making possible his upcoming sabbaticals, Bowley says, are Dean Spencer N. Frankl, Dr. Dan Nathanson, professor and chair of the Restorative Sciences and Biomaterials Department, and Dr. Steven Morgano, professor and director of the Postdoctoral Prosthodontics Program.

"I appreciate the opportunity to research away from the school for that amount of time," says Bowley, adding that his off-site research will complement his work at BUSDM. "My goal is to benefit the dental school as a whole," he says.

A New York native, Bowley received his bachelor’s degree from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts and his DDS from Georgetown University School of Dentistry, completed his residency at the Harvard University/Veterans Administration Combined Prosthodontics Program, and earned a master’s degree in Oral Science with a focus on temporomandibular disorders from SUNY Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. He lives in Groton with his wife and three children.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Fulbright application process may contact Dr. Bowley at jbowley@bu.edu.