Researchers
Dr. Camila Pacheco Pereira
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL RADIOLOGIST SPECIALIST
Dr. Pacheco-Pereira, DDS, MBA, MSc, MS, PHD, FRCDC, is one of the few board-certified oral and maxillofacial radiologists in Alberta. She leads the Advanced Imaging Centre at the University of Alberta.
With over 90 peer-reviewed publications, her research focuses on 2D and 3D imaging applications, knowledge translation in dental imaging, and metrics related to patient satisfaction with oral health care. Embracing innovation and collaboration, she explores the use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and alternative imaging tools to advance digital dentistry. Pacheco-Pereira is committed to integrating augmented intelligence into dental imaging, promoting knowledge translation in oral radiology, and advancing education by emphasizing imaging justification and the appropriate use of imaging modalities in dentistry.
Pacheco-Pereira completed her dentistry studies in Brazil. After finishing dental school, she slowly but surely realized that her strong interests were related to oral health diagnosis. Accordingly, she completed an oral radiology specialty program. Her interests are also related to health services delivery, which led to the completion of her masters in business administration with a specialization in health management. This experience opened her mind to the administrative side of dentistry.
Having been in Alberta since 2013, Pacheco-Pereira completed a masters in dentistry program at the University of Alberta and she is proud to be an alumni of the school where she teaches today. She is involved with DDS, dental hygiene, undergraduate and graduate programs in addition to the radiology clinic.
Her interest is focused on generating good translational research. With a substantial number of scientific papers in evidence-based dentistry, patient and student satisfaction/blended learning, and oral maxillofacial related topics, Pacheco-Pereira is an active and awarded member of academia. She is a collaborator in a number of dental evidence-based studies to systematic review topics that need to be translated to the practitioner. Another research interest of hers is the variation in the trabecular bone pattern in conventional and advanced imaging.
Dr. Carlos Flores-Mir
RESEARCHER
Dr. Flores-Mir, DDS, MSc, DSc, is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Flores-Mir is the interim, graduate orthodontic program director and the associate chair, graduate studies, for the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry.
Flores-Mir research mainly focuses on the areas of clinical decision-making processes, Class II malocclusion camouflage treatment, screening for pediatric sleep disorder breathing, and knowledge translation of synthesized evidence. He has supervised several MSc and PhD students, as well as postdoctoral fellows. He is assistant/associate editor in several major orthodontic journals. Flores-Mir has published more than 300 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He has lectured internationally more than 100 times. His current H-Index is 38. Flores-Mir is an associate orthodontist in a private practice in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dr. Fabiana Almeida
Clinician Scientist & Assistant Professor
Dr. Almeida, DDS, MSc, PhD, is a clinician scientist and assistant professor at the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry, University of Alberta. She teaches oral radiology to both undergraduate and graduate students and also serves
Almeida's research program focuses on advanced imaging technologies (CBCT, MRI and Ultrasound) and innovation to improve the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial conditions. She is increasingly focused on AI-driven image analysis and has led the development of an AI model to assist in identifying TMJ disorders in MRI images. By integrating clinical diagnosis expertise with innovation, her research aims to enhance diagnostic imaging, support clinical decision-making, and ultimately improve patient outcomes in oral health care.
Dr. Hollis Lai
Professor
Dr. Lai, PhD, MBA, MEd, is a professor with the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry and is a university alumnus of the Faculty of Education and the School of Business.
His research interest is in analytics and psychometrics. His team has developed many learning solutions used throughout the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. He co-developed the method for automatic time generation that is now being used by testing agencies around the world.
He splits his time between the Undergraduate Medical Education office and the ERSU. His research interests include developing intelligent applications, learning sciences, and adopting analytic methods in oral health research. His focus within the Unit is to engage in and support educational research, with a focus on quantitative methods, analytics, and machine learning.
In 2024, Lai was recognized with the David Cook Award for contribution to medical education at the University of Alberta and in 2016 was awarded the annual award by the National Council for Measurement in Education.
Dr. Manuel Oscar Lagravère Vich
Director, orthodontic graduate program
Dr. Lagravère, DDS, MSc, PhD, was born in Lima, Peru, where he completed his degree in dental science (2000) and masters in science (2003) at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
After this, he moved to Edmonton to pursue a PhD in orthodontic which was completed in July 2009 in the University of Alberta. Since then, Lagravère has moved in the faculty ranks being promoted to tenured-professor in orthodontics since July 2023 where he is involved in teaching orthodontics to undergraduates and postgraduates students.
During his time in teaching and doing research, Lagravère has won several awards and has published over 160 papers in important scientific journals. In July 2025, he became the director of the orthodontic graduate program at the University of Alberta.
Presently, he runs several clinical trials involving orthodontic treatments and its impact on airway, skeletal, and dental changes. In several of these trials, he works jointly with universities from the US, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Mexico. His research mainly focuses on the areas of maxillary expansion, bone-anchored mechanics, and three-dimensional analysis. He is also the Director of the Applied Oral Health Research Unit.
Dr. Maryam Amin
ASSOCIATE CHAIR RESEARCH
Dr. Amin, DMD, MSc, PhD, is a professor, associate chair of research, and director of the dentistry graduate program at the University of Alberta’s Mike Petryk School of Dentistry, where she also holds the Alberta Dental Association and College Clinical Dentistry Research Chair.
She earned her DMD degree in Iran and completed both her MSc and PhD at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Deeply committed to academic excellence, she also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Health Education and a certificate in "Teaching in Higher Education" at UBC, and was later awarded the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Gies Foundation Scholarship to complete the prestigious ADEA Leadership Institute program.
Dr. Amin's research program focuses on the social and behavioral aspects of oral health, specifically investigating how psychosocial, community, and societal factors influence dental care access among disadvantaged populations. Her lab actively leverages electronic health data and artificial intelligence to identify risk factors, address oral health inequalities, and design innovative public health promotion strategies. As a dedicated educator and administrator, Dr. Amin is deeply committed to fostering the next generation of researchers. She actively mentors and supervises undergraduate, graduate (MSc and Ph.), and post-doctoral students, providing them with advanced, hands-on training in dental public health, health informatics, and clinical research methodologies to prepare them for successful careers in academia, clinical practice, and public policy."
Dr. Pallavi Parashar
RESEARCHER
Dr. Parashar, DDS, is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial pathologist. She received her dental degree in India, after which she completed a residency program in oral and maxillofacial pathology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She was awarded a DDS degree at the University of Colorado after she completed the advanced standing program for international dentists.
Parashar currently co-directs the oral medicine graduate program at the University of Alberta. She specializes in clinical and microscopic diagnosis of oral pathology. She is passionate about her profession and is actively involved in research activities.
Dr. Paul Major
RESEARCHER
Dr. Major, DDS, MSc, FRCD(C), is a professor of orthodontics. He leads an orthodontic biomechanics research group, which is a collaboration between mechanical engineering and dentistry. This group investigates complex force systems associated with orthodontic treatment modalities.
Major also investigates craniofacial morphology with advanced imaging with particular focus on understanding skeletal and dental changes due to growth and orthodontic treatment.
Dr. Reid Friesen
ORAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST AND RESEARCHER
Dr. Reid Friesen, BMSc, DDS, MSc, FRCD(C), is a Royal College-certified specialist in oral medicine and an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.
He completed his doctor of dental surgery degree at the University of Alberta in 2014, receiving the Gold Medal in Dentistry for the highest overall academic standing in his graduating class. He subsequently completed specialty training in oral medicine and a master of science in medical sciences at the University of Alberta in 2018.
Friesen’s clinical, academic, and scholarly work focuses on complex oral medicine conditions, including orofacial pain, temporomandibular disorders, oral mucosal disease, and dental sleep medicine. He directs the University of Alberta TMD/Orofacial Pain Clinic and Sleep-Disordered Breathing Clinic, including the multidisciplinary orofacial pain clinic.
His research aims to improve diagnostic clarity, patient-centred care, and evidence-informed decision-making for patients with complex oral and orofacial conditions. His areas of scholarly interest include temporomandibular disorders, chronic orofacial pain, diagnostic imaging, conservative and adjunctive management of chronic masticatory myalgia, oral mucosal disease, dental sleep medicine, and emerging applications of artificial intelligence in oral medicine education and clinical reasoning.
At the University of Alberta, Friesen serves as discipline lead for oral medicine and pathology and co-director of the oral medicine graduate program. He teaches oral medicine, oral pathology, orofacial pain, temporomandibular disorders, and dental sleep medicine, and supervises graduate students and undergraduate research trainees.
Dr. Tarek El-Bialy
RESEARCHER
Dr. El-Bialy, BDS, MSc, LLP, PhD, EMBA, Dr. Med. Dent., is professor of orthodontics and adjunct professor in biomedical engineering with tenure at the 7-020D Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
El-Bialy gained his BDS from the Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University, Egypt in 1987 and subsequently gained MSc degrees in orthodontics (1993, Tanta University) , law license degree (1994, Tanta University) and oral sciences (College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2000).
He completed a certificate of specialty in orthodontics and PhD in bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001. El-Bialy is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. He joined the University of Alberta in 2005, having previously been assistant professor of orthodontics and bioengineering at King Abdulaziz University (KAAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is the author of 170 original articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as three textbooks and 17 book chapters. He has been invited as keynote speaker in many international conferences. He also has been appointed as a distinguished adjunct professor at Saveetha Dental College & Hospitals (SIMATS), Chennai, India in 2023. He has been ranked #1 worldwide scholar in low intensity pulsed ultrasound and clear aligners as per ScholarGPS ranking.
Scholar profile and ranking | Open directory listing | telbialy@ualberta.ca
