Journal of AIDS & Clinical Research

Richard J. Jurevic

Biography

 Dr. Richard Jurevic is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Biological Sciences. He received his undergraduate and Dental degrees from the Ohio State University. At the University of Washington, he completed specialty training in Oral Medicine and Radiology and fellowship in Special Care Dentistry, and his PhD in Oral Biology. Dr. Jurevic was the recipient of the NIH/NIDCR Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award, the NIH/NIDCR Dental Scientist Award ( K16 Grant, U.Washington; 1998-2003), the Warren B. Magnusson Biomedical Research Award (U.Washington; 2000), and the Edward Wach Research Award (University of Illinois at Chicago; 2005). Dr. Jurevic was a recipient of a K23 mentored patient oriented clinical research grant entitled “Defensin gene cluster variation and Candida carriage” for 5 years through the NIH/NIDCR. Dr .Jurevic currently has an R01 grant as part of a program project, investigating the association of genetic variations in innate immume genes with oral manifestatios of HIV /AIDS. Dr. Jurevic is also a member of the Cleveland Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). He is also an oral medicine specialist and co-investigator with the ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group) Oral HIV AIDS Research Alliance (OHARA)investigating oral candidiasis and new treatment modalities for underserved populations. The CASE OHARA group is also investigating the complex inter-relationships that occur in the oral cavity of the immune compromised host utilizing mycobiomic, microbiomic, and metabolomic methods to assess disease progression and associated coinfections.

Dr. Jurevic's research interests focus on the genetic basis of oral disease. He is currently investigating the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variations (CNVs) in the epithelial expressed antimicrobial peptide family known as Defensins. Dr. Jurevic is currently developing high-throughput genetic assays to study the association of these variations on susceptibility for oral diseases such as candidiasis in high risk populations for clinical application. He is also investigating the relationship of defensin peptide expression patterns in patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapies and assessing the relationship of genetic variation and expression of peptide with development and severity of oral mucositis. The translational aspects of his research 

Research Interest

Research interest in Oral mucosa, Epithelal barrier function, Defensins, Antimicrobial peptides, Saliva, Mycology, Genetics/Genomics, Oral Medicine