Rajesh V. Lalla DDS, PhD

Rajesh V. Lalla, DDS, PhD is a tenured Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. He is a clinician and scholar who conducts clinical research on oral complications of cancer therapy. Dr. Lalla is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine. He has had NIH funding for his research for over 20 years. In addition to clinical care and research, Dr. Lalla directs a course on Evidence-based Decision Making. Dr. Lalla has held several leadership and executive positions at the local, national, and international levels. He currently serves as Associate Dean for Research in the School of Dental Medicine. He also serves on several institutional committees and is a past Chair of the Institutional Review Board, which oversees the conduct of clinical research.  He is a Past President of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), an international multidisciplinary professional organization of healthcare professionals from over 70 countries. Dr. Lalla has published 115 peer-reviewed scientific articles, which have been viewed online over 35,000 times and cited over 6500 times in the peer-reviewed literature, with an h-index of 45. This places him among the top 2% of scientists worldwide, based on the frequency of his work being cited. He is asked to speak on oral complications of cancer therapy at the national and international levels. He has reviewed articles written by others for over 25 scientific journals and served as a grant reviewer for several US and international funding agencies. Dr. Lalla also serves as a consultant on various topics including oral mucositis and other oral complications of cancer therapy, and clinical trial design and outcomes. He is the recipient of several national and international awards including the IADR Innovation in Oral Care Award, the ADA/AADR Evidence-based Dentistry Accomplished Faculty Award, the MASCC Distinguished Service Award, and the ISOO Distinguished Service Award.