On September 18, 2026, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., announced the appointment of Jonathan E. Burke, D.M.D., to serve as director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Dr. Burke is board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon and serves as the medical director of an oral and maxillofacial consulting firm in Philadelphia. He previously served as assistant professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he co-founded the institution’s first Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Concurrently, he held a clinical assistant professor appointment at Temple University School of Dentistry and has maintained active hospital privileges across multiple health systems. Dr. Burke received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and his doctorate in dental medicine from Temple University, Philadelphia. He began his role as NIDCR director on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
The NIH press release may be found
here.
Impact on General Dentistry: As NIDCR director, Dr. Burke will oversee more than $520 million annually in oral health research funding, including work on oral cancer, orofacial pain, tooth decay, periodontal disease, salivary gland dysfunction, craniofacial development and disorders and the oral complications of systemic diseases. The institute supports roughly 750 awards, 660 investigators and 200 organizations and aides career development programs benefiting approximately 380 researchers and trainees.
