Clinician-scientist stays busy and focused on research, education

Adams School of Dentistry's Adam Lietzan, Adam Lietzan, PhD, DMD, MS, likes to stay busy whether it's as an educator, researcher or ultimate Frisbee player.

Lietzan, with his wife, Chrissy.

Adam Lietzan, PhD, DMD, MS, always thought he’d be an educator, just not in dentistry. “I graduated from a small liberal arts college (McDaniel College) where I had fantastic faculty mentors that sparked my passion for education.” Lietzan said. This passion for education led to a fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education to help Lietzan pursue a PhD in the Biological Sciences at Marquette University.

However, as he was completing his PhD training, he started to consider other career possibilities. “I had a wonderful hometown dentist that I’d fly home to see for appointments every six months,” he laughed. “She encouraged me to take the DAT and serendipitously started my journey into dentistry.”

Lietzan attended dental school at the Kornberg School of Dentistry at Temple University for his DMD. “This is embarrassing, but I didn’t know there were dental specialties when I started dental school,” he chuckled.

A periodontal specialist

Lietzan may have started dental school without much background, but he was a quick learner and immediately gravitated toward periodontology. “Periodontology was a natural fit. Periodontitis (gum disease) is driven by various host and microbial cellular cascades, and my PhD dissertation focused on understanding how proteins structurally change in disease.”

Once again, the mentorship Lietzan received as a dental student helped him hone the next step in his career, a periodontology residency at UNC Adams School of Dentistry.

“There are very few periodontology residency programs in the U.S. that offer excellent clinical training and exposure to a strong research environment. UNC was an institution where I could become a good clinician and expand my research interests,” he said.

Researching protein structures

Since graduating from the periodontology residency program and becoming faculty at UNC, Lietzan has continued to grow as a clinician-scientist. He has spent the early portion of his career studying protein structure and exploring how enzymes from oral microbes mimic human enzymes to promote periodontal disease.

“The maintenance of our connective tissues, such as those found in the gums, is dynamic and occurs through tight regulation of enzymes from our cells. We are now beginning to appreciate that select oral microbes utilize structurally similar enzymes to help them breakdown components of our connective tissue and promote periodontal disease,” Lietzan said.

Lietzan’s lab studies protein structures, and he’s always looking for new lab members.

This concept was the topic of a recent paper that highlighted the first biomarker for periodontal disease that captures the host’s immune response and oral microbial challenge in a single measurement.

“We recognize that periodontal disease develops as our immune system responds to oral microbes, yet we don’t have a tool to measure both simultaneously until now,” he said. “We’re expanding our efforts to include new enzyme families shared between the host and pathogenic oral microbes. Our goal is to develop a simple, accessible, and inexpensive chairside tool that helps stratify patients at risk of developing periodontitis, but we have a long way to go.”

Teaching supporting research efforts

He admits that his desire to teach drives his research interests, and he finds that participating with patient care helps him identify limitations associated with treatment. “Treating patients provides a window into the limitations with some of our treatments modalities and it informs a lot of my research ideas,” he said. “Students will ask ‘why is it this way?’ And occasionally my answer is ‘I don’t know.’ That sets the stage for a new research direction.”

As an educator, Lietzan has received multiple teaching accolades from the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) including the Walter Cohen Teaching Award and the AAP Teaching Fellowship.

“The ASOD has provided the structure for me to teach, engage in patient care, and research and I’m truly grateful. I love being an educator, I just never thought it would be in dentistry.”

Staying busy outside the office

When he’s not in clinician-scientist mode, you can find Lietzan hiking with his wife and dog or playing ultimate Frisbee, something he has enjoyed since his graduate school days. He’s even played in tournaments, but admits he isn’t as competitive these days, though he still stays busy.

“Needless to say, I’ve had a very non-traditional path,” Lietzan said. “If I’m not doing something I feel lost. I must be moving forward, and it fits me.”