Professor Richard Lamont is an Endowed Professor in the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, USA, and serves as Chair of the Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

The author of over 200 research papers, review articles and book chapters, Richard’s research interests involve communication and signalling in the development of complex multispecies bacterial communities on oral surfaces. Of particular interest is how otherwise commensal organisms such as Streptococcus gordonii can enhance the virulence potential of more pathogenic organisms such as Porphyromonas gingivalis.

As part of this process, tyrosine phosphorylation based signalling pathways within P. gingivalis that respond to S. gordonii are being unraveled. Another research endeavor is the molecular dialog that occurs between oral bacteria and gingival epithelial cells that allows host cell responses to be tailored to the threat level of colonizing organisms. The outcome of this interkingdom signalling often has implications for life and death decisions of the host cells.

Richard has edited and authored two standard textbooks in oral microbiology and immunology, and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Molecular Oral Microbiology.