Research Summary

Dr. Alessandro Villa is the Chief of Oral Medicine, Oral Oncology and Dentistry at Miami Cancer Institute. He was previously chief of oral medicine at UCSF and program director for the oral medicine residency. Dr. Villa is board certified in Oral Medicine. After graduating with a DDS from the University of Milano, Italy, he obtained his Master of Public Health from AT Still University, MO and earned a PhD from the University of Sassari, Italy. He also served as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, NIH where he studied the oral HPV prevalence in a large population and methods of early detection of oral cancer. Dr. Villa earned his Certificate in Oral Medicine from Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Brigham and Women's Hospital and served as the Program Director for the Oral Medicine Program there before coming to UCSF.

Dr. Villa's research interests are focused primarily on the management of oral potentially malignant disorders and oral complications from cancer treatment. In addition, he is working to reduce the burden of HPV associated oropharyngeal cancers through educational campaigns. Dr. Villa has contributed to the oral medicine literature with numerous journal articles and book chapters and is a peer reviewer for several professional journals. His clinical interests include treatment of oral mucosal diseases, salivary gland disorders and oral complications from cancer therapy. Dr. Villa teaches in the clinic as well as in the classroom.

Education

University of Milano, Italy, DDS, 2008, Dentistry
National Cancer Institute NIH, Bethesda MD, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010, Epidemiology
AT Still University, School of Health Management, Kirksville MO, MPH, 2011, Public Health
University of Sassari, Italy, PhD, 2013, Public Health and Epidemiology
Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston MA, Research Fellow, 2013, Oral Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston MA, Resident, 2013, Oral Medicine

Honors & Awards

  • 2011
    Certificate of Excellence in Oral Medicine, American Academy of Oral Medicine
  • 2012
    Case Report Award, American Academy of Oral Medicine
  • 2013
    Best Poster Case Report/Series Award, Italian Society of Oral Medicine and Pathology
  • 2017
    Certificate of Merit, Massachusetts Dental Society
  • 2018
    Certificate of Appreciation, K.M. Shah Dental College, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth Deemed Univeristy, Vadodara, India
  • 2019
    Certificate of Appreciation, Ministry of Defense, Medical Services Prince Abdulrahman Advance Dental Institute Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 2019
    Certificate of Merit Award, American Academy of Oral Medicine
  • 2019
    Certificate of Appreciation, Harvard School of Dental Medicine
  • 2019
    Certificate of Appreciation, Indian Health Services

Selected Publications

  1. Villa A, Kuten-Shorrer M. Pathogenesis of Oral Toxicities Associated with Targeted Therapy and Immunotherapy. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 03; 24(9).  View on PubMed
  2. Khan MM, Frustino J, Villa A, Nguyen BC, Woo SB, Johnson WE, Varelas X, Kukuruzinska M, Monti S. Total RNA sequencing reveals gene expression and microbial alterations shared by oral pre-malignant lesions and cancer. bioRxiv. 2023 Mar 24.  View on PubMed
  3. Villa A, Sonis ST. Radiotherapy-induced severe oral mucositis: pharmacotherapies in recent and current clinical trials. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2023 Apr; 32(4):301-310.  View on PubMed
  4. Wiriyakijja P, Niklander SE, Santos-Silva AR, Shorrer MK, Simms ML, Villa A, Sankar V, Kerr AR, Riordain RN, Jensen SB, Delli K. World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII: Development of a core outcome set for dry mouth: a systematic review of outcome domains for xerostomia. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 06; 135(6):827-875.  View on PubMed
  5. Ni Riordain R, Farag AM, Villa A, Robledo-Sierra J, Delli K, Taylor J. The World Workshop on Oral Medicine Outcomes Initiative for the Direction of Research Project. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 06; 135(6):699-702.  View on PubMed
  6. Simms ML, Kuten-Shorrer M, Wiriyakijja P, Niklander SE, Santos-Silva AR, Sankar V, Kerr AR, Jensen SB, Riordain RN, Delli K, Villa A. World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII: Development of a core outcome set for dry mouth: a systematic review of outcome domains for salivary hypofunction. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 06; 135(6):804-826.  View on PubMed
  7. Santos-Silva AR, Villa A, Kerr AR, Delli K, Simms ML, Shorrer MK, Wiriyakija P, Jensen SB, Niklander SE, Sankar V, Ni Riordain R. World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII: Development of a core outcome set for dry mouth: the patient perspective. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 06; 135(6):876-884.  View on PubMed
  8. Sonis S, Saunders D, Villa A. Quantifying Costs Associated With Survival Among Patients With Head and Neck Cancer. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023 03 01; 149(3):284-285.  View on PubMed
  9. Niklander SE, Simms ML, Wiriyakijja P, Santos-Silva AR, Kuten-Shorrer M, Sankar V, Kerr AR, Jensen SB, Riordain RN, Villa A, Delli K. World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII: Development of a core outcome set for dry mouth: a consensus study. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 06; 135(6):885-892.  View on PubMed
  10. Emperumal CP, Weller B, Okane S, Joseph R, Kharbanda S, Ling Z, Villa A. Oral complications in a paediatric graft versus host disease (GVHD) clinic: A retrospective study. Oral Dis. 2023 Feb 14.  View on PubMed
  11. Warren BR, Gillette-Walch H, Adler J, Arias R, Klausner JD, Ashing KT, Villa A. Assessment of human papillomavirus vaccination rates of adolescents in California, 2018-2019. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Apr; 32:102144.  View on PubMed
  12. Sandhu S, Alsafwani Z, Sankar V, Handa S, Villa A. Burnout in oral medicine and orofacial pain residents. J Am Dent Assoc. 2023 07; 154(7):633-642.e4.  View on PubMed
  13. Brunialti E, Villa A, Toffoli M, Lucas Del Pozo S, Rizzi N, Meda C, Maggi A, Schapira AHV, Ciana P. Sex-Specific Microglial Responses to Glucocerebrosidase Inhibition: Relevance to GBA1-Linked Parkinson's Disease. Cells. 2023 01 17; 12(3).  View on PubMed
  14. Alsafwani Z, Aljishi M, Shiboski C, Jordan R, Villa A. Oral manifestations of delusional infestation: a case series. BMC Oral Health. 2022 Dec 29; 22(1):652.  View on PubMed
  15. Vincenti S, Villa A, Crescenti D, Crippa E, Brunialti E, Shojaei-Ghahrizjani F, Rizzi N, Rebecchi M, Dei Cas M, Del Sole A, Paroni R, Mazzaferro V, Ciana P. Increased Sensitivity of Computed Tomography Scan for Neoplastic Tissues Using the Extracellular Vesicle Formulation of the Contrast Agent Iohexol. Pharmaceutics. 2022 Dec 10; 14(12).  View on PubMed
  16. Casey SM, Paiva T, Perkins RB, Villa A, Murray EJ. Could oral health care professionals help increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates by engaging patients in discussions? J Am Dent Assoc. 2022 Dec 08.  View on PubMed
  17. Thanasuwat B, Leung SOA, Welch K, Duffey-Lind E, Pena N, Feldman S, Villa A. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Education and Knowledge Among Medical and Dental Trainees. J Cancer Educ. 2023 06; 38(3):971-976.  View on PubMed
  18. Klein BA, Shazib MA, Villa A, de Abreu Alves F, Vacharotayangul P, Sonis S, Fedele S, Treister NS. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy: Review of orofacial adverse events and role of the oral healthcare provider. Front Oral Health. 2022; 3:968157.  View on PubMed
  19. Pham D, Shukla A, Welch K, Villa A. Assessing knowledge of human papillomavirus among men who have sex with men (MSM) using targeted dating applications. Vaccine. 2022 08 26; 40(36):5376-5383.  View on PubMed
  20. Fantozzi PJ, Pampena E, Pierangeli A, Oliveto G, Sorrentino L, Di Vanna D, Pampena R, Lazzaro A, Gentilini E, Mastroianni CM, D'Ettorre G, Polimeni A, Romeo U, Villa A. Efficacy of antiseptic mouthrinses against SARS-CoV-2: A prospective randomized placebo-controlled pilot study. Am J Otolaryngol. 2022 Nov-Dec; 43(6):103549.  View on PubMed

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