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About Alessandro Villa

Alessandro Villa, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.P.H., is chief of oral medicine, oral oncology and dentistry at Miami Cancer Institute. Dr. Villa specializes in treating oral mucosal and salivary gland diseases, oral precancers and oral complications from cancer treatment. He is fluent in English and Italian. Prior to joining Miami Cancer Institute in 2022, Dr. Villa was an attending physician at the University of California San Francisco, Medical Center and an associate clinical professor of oral medicine and otolaryngology at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He also directed the oral medicine residency programs at UCSF and Harvard. While at UCSF, he earned the 2021 Short-Term Mentor award and was the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion champion at the University of California 2021. Dr. Villa’s research focuses on oral dysplasia, oral complications from cancer therapy and prevention of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers. He’s been the principal investigator in several clinical trials including the use of immunotherapy to manage oral proliferative leukoplakia. His research has been published in the Journal of Cancer Education, Cancer, JCO Clinical Practice, the Journal of the American Dental Association and more. He is a member of the American Dental Association, American Academy of Oral Medicine, Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology and the Florida Dental Association. Dr. Villa works with people who have a chronic oral disease, and he believes he is there to accompany them every step of their journeys. When he is not treating patients, Dr. Villa likes to ski, play the piano and explore new places with family and friends.


Positions

August 2022 - Present Chief of Oral Medicine, Oral Oncology and Dentistry, Baptist Health South Florida Miami Cancer Institute
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April 2022 - Present Professor, Florida International University ‐ Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine
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March 2020 - Present Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF ‐ Oral Medicine
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March 2020 - Present Part-Time Lecturer, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity
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2011 - Present Honorary Lecturer, Dental Public Health
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July 2021 - March 2022 Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF ‐ Otoringology, Head and Neck Surgery
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September 2020 - April 2022 Associate Member, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
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April 2020 - April 2022 Attending, UCSF School of Dentistry ‐ Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
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March 2020 - April 2022 Chief Oral Medicine, UCSF School of Dentistry
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October 2020 - April 2022 Director, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center ‐ Oral Oncology, Head and Neck Oncology
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April 2020 - March 2022 Program Director, UCSF Scholl of Dentistry ‐ Oral Medicine, Department of Oorfacial Science
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February 2020 - December 2020 Program Director, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Oral Oncology Fellowhip
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December 2017 - February 2020 Assistant Professor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity
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January 2015 - March 2020 Director of Education, Oral Medicine and Dentistry, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Brigham and Women's Hospital
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June 2015 - March 2020 Program Director, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Brigham and Women's Hospital, Oral Medicine Residency
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August 2014 - February 2020 Associate Surgeon, Oral Medicine and Dentistry, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ‐ Brigham and Women's hospital
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August 2014 - February 2020 Associate Surgeon, Oral Medicine and Dentistry, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ‐ Brigham and Women's hospital
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August 2014 - November 2017 Instructor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity
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August 2014 - May 2015 Assistant Program Director Oral Medicine Residency, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Brigham and Women's Hospital
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August 2013 - July 2014 Assistant Professor, Boston University ‐ Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
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August 2011 - July 2013 Research Fellow, Harvard School of Dental Medicine ‐ Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity
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2010 - 2010 Fellow, Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, DC ‐ Oral and Maxillo-Facial Pathology
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January 2009 - December 2009 Adjunct Professor, University of Milano, Italy ‐ Oral Diagnosis
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Grants

2020 - 2025 Dexamethasone Solution and Dexamethasone in Mucolox for the Treatment of Oral Inflammatory Ulcerative Diseases
Professional Compaunding Centers of America
$151,637.85
2021 - 2022 Oral Oncology Mini-Fellowship Program at UCSF
DentaQuest
$52,016
2021 - 2022 Oral Oncology Mini-Fellowship Program at UCSF
DentaQuest
$52,016
2019 - 2020 HPV Educational Interventions in American Indian Populations
National Library of Medicine, NIH and UMass
2019 - 2020 Partnership for Oral Health Advancement
DentaQuest
$91,136
2018 - 2020 Safety and Efficacy of Nivolumab in Treating Oral Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia
Bristol-Myers Squibb
$1,121,201
2018 - 2019 HPV Infection and Cancer Prevention Education
Dana-Farber Cancer Prevention Education
$15,000
2018 - 2019 Oral Oncology Felloship
DentaQuest Foundation Board of Directors
$80,035
2016 - 2019 Dexamethasone Solution and Mucolox for the Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus: an Open Label Randomized, Phase II Trial
PCCA
$30,000
2018 - 2018 HPV-Oro-Pharyngeal Cancer Education for Boston Area Youth
National Library of Medicine, NIH and UMass
$5,370
2017 - 2017 HPV and Cancer Prevention Education for Oral Health
National Library of Medicine, NIH and UMass
$10,000
2016 - 2016 Development of a New Mobile Health Application for Dental Students and Residents' Evaluation
Harvard School of Dental Medicine Innovation Fund
$25,000
2016 - 2016 Genomic Alterations in Leukoplakia
Brigham Research Institute (BRI) Microgrant
$1,250
2010 - 2010 Early Diagnosis of Oral Cancer
University of Milan, Italy
$7,500
2009 - 2009 Oral Health in Pregnancy
University of Milan, Italy
$15,000
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Professional Service and Affiliations

2020 - Present Scientific Advisor Member, American Dental Association
2020 - Present Scientific Advisor, Massachusetts Coalition for HPV/HPV-Related Cancer Awareness
2019 - Present Member, American Dental Association
2018 - Present Co-Chair, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2018 - Present Clinical Champion, American Cancer Society
2018 - Present Consultant, American Dental Association
2017 - Present Member, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2017 - Present Co-Chair, Massachusetts Oral HPV Prevention Taskforce
2016 - Present Abstract Reviewer, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2021 - 2025 Council of Scientific Affairs, American Dental Association
2021 - 2023 Member, American Dental Association, Council of Scientific Affairs
2020 - 2022 Section Head, World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII
2019 - 2019 Spokesperson, HPV Summit Planning Committee
2017 - 2019 Chair, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2017 - 2019 Reviewer, World Workshop on Oral Medicine VII
2018 - 2018 Chair, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2018 - 2018 Member, American Dental Association
2016 - 2018 Scientific Committee Member, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2015 - 2017 Member, Vice Chair, American Academy of Oral Medicine
2016 - 2016 Award Judge, American Academy of Oral Medicine
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Honors and Awards

  • Short - Term Mentor Award, UCSF, 2021

Courses

  • Oral Diagnosis - Instructor, Three 3 Hour Lecture
  • Oral and Maxillofacial - Two 2 Hour Lecture
  • Oral Radiology - Instructor, One 2 Hour Lecture
  • Grand Rounds - Director, One 1 Hour Lecture/Month
  • Advanced Graduate - One 2 Hour Lecture
  • Oral Medicine - Elective for Year 4 DMD Students; Journal Club
  • Oral Epidemiology - One 3 Hour Lecture
  • Dentistry - OD208 Oral Diseases (Course Director); PCC 106 Clinical Oral Medicine

Education

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July 2011 - July 2013 Resident, Resident, Brigham and Women's Hospital ‐ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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December 2009 - February 2013 MD, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy ‐ Biomedical Science, Preventive Dentistry
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January 2011 - June 2011 Fellowship, University of Milano, Milano, Italy ‐ League of European Research Universitites
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February 2009 - February 2011 MPH, School of Health Management ‐ A. T. Still Universtiy, Kirksville, MO
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February 2010 - December 2010 Fellowship, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD ‐ The National Institute of Health
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September 2003 - July 2008 DDS, University of Milano, Milano, Italy
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Contact Information

Miami Cancer Institute
8900 N. Kendall Drive
Miami, FL 33176
(786) 596-2000



Abstracts (16)

Articles (120)