Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila Elected Chair of AAAS Dental and Oral Health Sciences Section

The School's Associate Dean of Research will serve in this national governance role through Dec. 31, 2028.

Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila, in a white lab coat
By School of Dentistry Communications
1 min read

Yvonne L. Hernandez-Kapila, D.D.S., Ph.D., F.A.C.D., F.I.C.D., E.L.A.M. Fellow – Professor, Associate Dean of Research, and Felix and Mildred Yip Endowed Chair at the UCLA School of Dentistry – has been elected chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Dental and Oral Health Sciences Section (Section R), serving through Dec. 31, 2028.

As the world’s largest general scientific society, the AAAS is organized into disciplinary sections that guide scientific dialogue and advance research across fields. Section R brings together leaders in oral health research to support scientific excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the peer-review selection of AAAS Fellows.

“I am honored to serve as Chair of Section R and to help further the AAAS mission of advancing science for society,” said Dr. Hernandez-Kapila, who was elected as a fellow in 2024. “This role underscores the vital impact of oral health sciences within the broader scientific community and highlights the importance of continued collaboration within and across multiple disciplines.”

A clinician-scientist and academic leader with more than 25 years of research, mentoring, and administrative experience, Dr. Hernandez-Kapila has made landmark contributions to understanding periodontal disease, oral cancer, and the oral microbiome, while also shaping the next generation of dental researchers. Her distinguished career spans roles at UC San Francisco and the University of Michigan before her leadership position at UCLA, while she has served on numerous national committees and NIH review panels. In 2025, the Hernandez-Kapila Lab secured the School’s largest-ever NIH grant, $20.6M over five years to fund the Human Virome Characterization Center at UCLA.

“Dr. Hernandez-Kapila’s appointment as Chair of the AAAS Dental and Oral Health Sciences Section is a testament to her exceptional leadership, vision, and sustained scientific contributions,” said Dean and Professor Paul H. Krebsbach. “We extend our warmest congratulations and look forward to the continued influence she will have on oral health globally.”

Dr. Krebsbach held the same AAAS position from 2013 to 2015 while at the University of Michigan, and UCLA School of Dentistry Professor Emeritus Ichiro Nishimura was Section R chair from 2021 to 2023.