04 August 2025

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New Faculty: Robert C. Shields

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Robert C. Shields, Ph.D., returned to the UF College of Dentistry on June 2, 2025, as an assistant professor in the Department of Oral Biology. Shields was a postdoctoral associate and then a research assistant professor in the lab of Robert Burne, Ph.D., from 2014 to 2021. In 2021, he was recruited to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro where he spent the last four years establishing his research program.

Shields is focusing on his research, collaborating with other research groups in the college, mentoring postdoctoral and doctoral students, and other research trainees. The long-term goal of the Shields Laboratory is to understand how Streptococcus mutans causes tooth decay. This includes addressing which genes are essential for pathogenesis, and what is the role of other bacteria in promoting or reducing S. mutans colonization. They use systems and synthetic biology techniques to address these problems.

Shields earned his bachelor’s degree in marine biology in 2009 and his doctoral degree in microbiology in 2014, both from Newcastle University in Newcastle, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Oral Microbiology and Immunology Group UK, the American Society of Microbiology and the International Association of Dental Research.

His research interests include oral microbiology, biofilms, molecular biology and streptococcal genetics.

Source: https://dental.ufl.edu/