Valeria V Gordan, DDS, MS

Valeria V Gordan, DDS, MS, MS-CI, is a Distinguished Professor in the Restorative Dental Sciences Department, Director of Practice-based Research at the University of Florida, and Associate Dean for Research for College of Dentistry.

Dr. Gordan received her DDS degree from State University of Londrina, Brazil in 1993, her MS degree in Operative Dentistry from The University of Iowa in 1997, and her MS degree in Clinical Investigation from College of Medicine, University of Florida in 2007. Dr. Gordan is a researcher, educator, and a clinician with an active practice until 2018. Her research interests have been in the area of caries diagnosis and preservation of tooth structure using minimally invasive restorative techniques through translational and clinical research applications. She has published over 200 manuscripts and contributed on various national and international committees in the dental profession. Her research efforts have awarded close to 19 million dollars in research grants funded by industry and by NIH-NIDCR.   She has served on the Editorial Board of 15 international journals including the Journal of Dental Research, Journal of Applied Oral Sciences, and Operative Dentistry and she has served as an ad-hoc reviewer for 30 international journals. She is a Fellow of the Leadership Institute at the American Dental Education Association and the recipient of various teaching awards, among them, University of Florida “Teacher of the Year”, the “Faculty of Honor in the Professionalism and Coating Ceremony”, and “The Dental Educator Award” from the Florida Dental Association. She was also the recipient of the Buonocore Memorial Lecture Award received in Chicago by the Academy of Operative Dentistry in celebration of her career and the 2021 Recipient of the Academy’s Hollenback Memorial Prize, the highest awards offered by the Academy and is given in recognition of Dr. Gordan’s many years of research and strong leadership. Her work has been recognized worldwide for its innovation and impact in dental clinical practice .

She designed and led several multi-center studies and clinical trials on experimental restorative materials and alternative treatments for the preservation of tooth structure collaborating with several institutions, such as, University of Manchester, University of Singapore, University of Chile, King Saud University, and various universities in Brazil, Chile, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Qatar, United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.  These international collaborations created opportunities for mentoring national and international dental students, dentists, and faculty in research projects.  As her research expanded, the association with the National Dental Practice-based Research Network (National Network), a consortium of participating practices and organizations with over 8,000 members committed to advancing knowledge of dental practice, was fundamental to augment the translation of her research efforts, as it provided a wide and diverse pool of practitioners with various practice types and patients from various social-economic status and demographics. As a lead-researcher in the National Network, she designed several studies aiming to address the decision-making processes and approaches used by practitioners in the dental restoration process. Dr. Gordan has been associated with the network since its inception in 2004, investigating pressing issues in clinical care while collaborating with investigators throughout the US and abroad. Currently, she is the Director for Practitioner Recruitment and Engagement, Director of Practitioner Education for the entire National Network and the Director for the South Atlantic region of the network, overseeing research conducted in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

For additional information on Dr. Gordan’s background, please visit www.dental.ufl.edu/about/people/faculty/restorative-dental-sciences/valeria-gordan/