AADR Strides in Science

Jill Helms, D.D.S., Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Surgery at Stanford University, California. Prior to Stanford, Helms spent eight years at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was the director of the molecular and cellular biology laboratory in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. She received her dental degree from the University of Minnesota and her residency certificate and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center.

Her research interests center on regenerative medicine and craniofacial development. In the subject of regenerative medicine, Helms’ laboratory goals are to understand the regulatory pathways that control stem cell self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation. She has focused on two signaling pathways whose activities seem to be an essential feature of tissue healing.