UF dental researcher wins international award

Michael Humphreys-Beher, a University of Florida College of Dentistry professor of oral biology, has received an international research award.

The International Association for Dental Researchers honored Humphreys-Beher with its 2001 Salivary Research Award. The award recognizes outstanding and innovative achievements of researchers who have contributed to the basic understanding of salivary gland structure, secretion and function, or salivary composition and function.

Humphreys-Beher is a leading researcher in the study of Sjogren’s syndrome, a disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack the secretory glands. His contributions include developing a mouse model to study the disease and tracking the glandular response to the disease.

Humphreys-Beher was awarded a commemorative plaque that was presented at the opening ceremony of the association’s recent 79th General Session in Japan.

Humphreys-Beher, past director of the college’s Center for Orphaned Autoimmuned Disorders, also won in 1999 the American Association for Dental Research’s Salivary Researcher of the Year Award.