About the AIOB

Founded in 1943 by Professor Hermann Becks of the University of California, the Mission of The American Institute of Oral Biology for the past 68 years has been to provide a forum to emphasize the application of basic and clinical research to the prevention and treatment of oral disease. The AIOB offers the practitioner the opportunity for knowledge enhancement in allied clinical fields as well as those more traditionally associated with dentistry. This exposure enables the healthcare provider to recognize incipient threats to the health of the patient and to develop improved treatment methods. Oral Biology is not a specialized field, but rather is a union of disciplines that seeks to apply knowledge to the daily practice of dentistry and medicine. It encourages the consideration of clinical problems as involving the whole individual rather than as a simple concern of regional pathology. The Institute has been successful for the past 68 years in serving as a meeting ground for the academically orientated researcher and the treatment-conscious clinician. We continue to promote this mutually beneficial exchange of ideas.

In the past we have had many very interesting speakers, including four Nobel Laureates: Victor Schally, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1977 for his work in endocrinology showing the effect of the hypothalamus on hormonal production of the pituitary and subsequent stimulation of adrenal output; Allan M. Cormack, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979 for the development of the CAT scan; Stanley Prusiner from the University of California for his work on the concept of prions and their effect on central nervous system diseases; and Arthur Kornberg who received the Nobel Prize for his work on enzymatic procedures associated with production of recombinant DNA. Those serving as speakers on our programs include Judah Folkman, Chief of the Pediatric Surgery at Harvard University, and Chief of Surgery at Children's Hospital, Boston, who discussed tumor angiogenesis, and some of his recent research on tumor formation in children; and Leonard Bailey, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Loma Linda University, who discussed his xenogeneic cardiac transplantation research, and heart surgery in infant patients.

The annual meeting is held in a seminar format affording the attendees the opportunity to become totally immersed in a study of basic and applied sciences. The participants live and work for 3 days in an academic atmosphere while at the same time enjoying rest and relaxation. The goals of The Institute are accomplished in the annual meeting by adherence to a multi-disciplinary regimen. Enrollment is restricted to a number that will promote and encourage individual participation. In this way, essayist-participant relationships are enhanced by their working and studying together for the entire meeting.