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Assistant Professor

Department of Oral Biology
Rutgers School of Dental Medicine

Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (secondary)

0000-0002-8090-0927

r.sekiguchi@rutgers.edu

Education & Training

BSc and DDS, University of Toronto

MSc and Certificate in Periodontics, University of Rochester

PhD, University of Missouri-Kansas City (NIH Graduate Partnerships Program)

Postdoctoral training, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research/NIH

Research Interests

Comparative Oral and Skin Wound Healing

Unlike skin, oral tissues heal with minimal scarring throughout adulthood. This striking difference offers a unique opportunity to uncover what makes regenerative healing possible. Using computational and experimental approaches, we compare oral and skin tissues to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive their distinct healing responses. We aim to translate these insights into new strategies for improving wound healing.

Salivary Gland Development and Regeneration

During development, what a cell becomes is shaped by both factors within the cell and signals from its surrounding microenvironment. Understanding these signals provides insights into regeneration, since many organs have limited ability to recover after damage. We use the salivary gland as a model to study how cells differentiate and acquire specialized functions, with the goal of regenerating saliva-producing acinar cells after damage from radiation or disease.