New Director of NIDCR Is Announced
Jonathan Burke, DMD, a New Jersey oral and maxillofacial surgeon, will oversee the nation’s leading dental research institute and its $520 million research portfolio.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently named Jonathan E. Burke, DMD, as the new director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the third oldest institute at NIH. Burke is a practicing board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon in New Jersey. He has also served in academia. A former assistant professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnsons Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Burke co-founded the school’s first Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He is also a former clinical assistant professor at Temple University School of Dentistry, which is also his alma mater.
Burke will supervise the NIDCR’s $520 million budget, which funds research of oral cancer, orofacial pain, dental caries, periodontal diseases, salivary gland dysfunction, craniofacial development, and the oral-systemic link. The NIDCR supports 750 awards, 660 investigators, and 200 organizations. His first day is September 20, 2026.
The American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research released a statement supporting Burke’s appointment. Critics, however, raised concerns about his limited publication record and lack of experience conducting research funded by the National Institutes of Health. He has one citation listed on PubMed, a database of citations and abstracts maintained by the US National Library of Medicine: “Head and Neck Injury from a Leopard Attack: Case Report and Review of the Literature” published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in February 2004. Click here to read more.
