Orlando Lopez, Ph.D.

Dr. Orlando Lopez is the Director of the Dental Materials and Biomaterials Program at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Dr. Lopez contributes to programmatic efforts to strengthen NIDCR’s bio-materials portfolio in basic science and translational research dedicated to restauration and repair of dental and craniofacial tissues. He also manages technology innovation grants under SBIR and STTR programs. Additionally, he oversees an interagency agreement with NIST dedicated to establishing performance standards for dental materials; and serves on various NIH and interagency committees focused on new enabling technologies, regenerative medicine and computational modeling.

Prior to NIDCR, he served as lead regulatory reviewer at CDRH/FDA where he led medical device approvals in imaging, cardiovascular and digital health technologies. He is alumni of the prestigious FDA Commissioner’s Fellowship and the NIH Postdoctoral IRTA Fellowship. Dr. Lopez received his Ph.D. from Mayo Clinic and B.S. from Boston University, both in Biomedical Engineering.