Professor, Robert V. Walker DDS Endowed Chair in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
Dr. Zuniga received his dental degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts in 1978. He completed a general dental residency in 1979 and an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital in 1986. He received a MS and PhD in Neuroscience in the Neuroendocrine Unit of the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1986, Center for Brain Research. He was a full time faculty member of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1986 to 2006. He served as the Program Director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency from 1992 to 2005 and was the co-director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Pain Program. He served as chair of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and Parkland Memorial Hospital from 2006 to 2020. He currently is a professor in the Departments of Surgery and Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas
Dr. Zuniga has authored over 185 contributions to the scientific literature. Dr. Zuniga’s major research interest includes regenerative neuroscience of the trigeminal nerve, acute and chronic orofacial pain and taste function. He has been the recipient of numerous research grants, contracts and awards. He has served as a consultant to the editorial boards of a number of scientific and clinical journals, served on the FDA advisory panel for dental products, the examination committee of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and on several research, resident education and faculty committees for AAOMS, the OMS Foundation, the Osteo Sciences Foundation, and the ADA. He is a founding member of the Global Nerve Foundation and sits on the Board to Directors for the Foundation.
As an experienced trigeminal nerve microsurgeon, Dr. Zuniga has performed more than 400 nerve repairs, He also has clinical interests in TMJ disorders, benign pathology, dentoalveolar, and trauma surgery of the oral and maxillofacial region. He has completed several multisite, randomized clinical trials in acute and chronic pain and trigeminal nerve surgery using processed nerve allografts for jaw reconstruction and the use of magnetic resonance neurography for improved diagnosis and monitoring.
GP4a - How Do I Evaluate and Document a Nerve Injury?
Friday, September 13, 2024
8:20 AM – 8:40 AM EDT
Disclosure(s): AxoGen Inc: Consultant (Ongoing); Global Nerve Foundation: board of directors (Ongoing)