Professor
University of Minnesota School of Dentistry
Dr. Costalonga is a Professor in Periodontology and Oral Biology at our institution. His research interest in the basic sciences is centered in the in the area of mucosal immunology and animal models of periodontitis. Dr. Costalonga is funded by the National Institute of Health. His team studies the contribution of mucosal intraepithelial Langerhans cells and subepithelial dendritic cells to the development of the T cell-mediated adaptive immune response. Specifically, they study the immune plasticity of Th17 and Treg cells after chronic oral colonization with a keystone pathogen (Porphyromonas gingivalis) in a murine model of periodontitis. Dr. Costalonga has served on the Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Sciences Study Section at the NIH as an ad hoc member for mucosal immunology.
Dr. Costalonga’s research interest in the clinical sciences focuses on the metabolomics of periodontitis and peri-implantitis. An ongoing collaboration with the Department of Chemistry aims at predicting future periodontal disease progression through the analysis of simple metabolites in the gingival crevicular fluid of healthy and diseased patient. Dr. Costalonga is a former director of the Advanced Education Program in Periodontology.