National research leader gives back to school that shaped her

Alumna Rena D’Souza, DDS, MS, PhD, poses with students before delivering the 2022 William T. Butler Distinguished Lecturer at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. Photo by Brian Schnupp.

After delivering a lecture on the genes that drive tooth development to orthodontic residents, Rena D’Souza, DDS ’85, PhD ’87—then an associate professor at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry—posed a simple offer: Call her if they encountered a perplexing case. 

One resident, Monica Goldenberg, DDS, did after seeing a young patient missing teeth. The teeth hadn’t fallen out; instead, they had never existed. Intrigued, D’Souza collaborated with colleagues across the Texas Medical Center and traced the condition through the patient’s family history. She identified it as tooth agenesis, an inherited disorder in which certain teeth fail to grow, linked to a gene called PAX9. The discovery would help advance scientific understanding of how teeth form and why they sometimes don’t. 

“I always wanted to find the answers to what I saw when treating patients,” D’Souza said.? 

That instinct to pursue difficult questions has guided D’Souza through a distinguished career spanning clinical dentistry and research at institutions across the country. She ultimately rose to become the Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the NIH and the federal government’s lead agency for scientific research on dental, oral, and craniofacial health. 

“It’s been quite a journey, and I would absolutely travel this path again,” she said. 

D’Souza earned a dental degree in India before coming to Houston with her fiancé and later spouse, Richard D’Souza, who worked in the oil and gas industry. She chose UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry to earn a DDS, entering an accelerated program designed for internationally trained dentists. 

“I realized during the program that I had a deep curiosity and could not take anything at face value,” she said. “There were many questions unanswered about what we do in dentistry, and I wanted to find the answers on a molecular level.” 

After graduating with her DDS in 1985, she completed a PhD in biomedical sciences from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 1987. That training set the foundation for a lifelong focus on craniofacial development and genetics, studying how teeth and palates form at the molecular level. 

Rena D’Souza, DDS ’85, PhD ’87 (right), holds her 2022 UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Dean John A. Valenza, DDS ’81. Photo by Brian Schnupp.

D’Souza joined the faculty at the School of Dentistry in 2001 and discovered a passion for teaching, beginning with dental hygiene students. 

“I learned how to communicate the concepts in a clear way, and I loved interacting with the students,” she said. “They taught me as much as I taught them.” 

Mentoring others became central to her career, and she went on to serve as chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Texas A&M (formerly Baylor) University College of Dentistry and then the inaugural dean of the University of Utah School of Dentistry. 

“With every success, it’s just as equally uplifting to see a mentee succeed,” she said. 

That commitment to advancing both science and people is what ultimately inspired D’Souza and her husband to give back. They recently established the Rena N. D’Souza, DDS, MS, PhD, Research Endowment in Health Promotion at the School of Dentistry’s Center for Health Promotion—an initiative that reflects her belief, shaped during her career at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, that oral health is inseparable from overall health. 

The center, a first-of-its-kind clinic on the dental school’s first floor, serves as a hub where dentistry, medicine, and behavioral health come together to prevent disease and promote the oral and overall health of patients. The endowment will support research that advances this integrated approach. 

“Everything seems to go through the mouth, which serves as a portal of entry to the rest of the body,” she said, pointing to links between oral health and broader health conditions. 

D’Souza values her ongoing connection with the School of Dentistry and returned to campus in January 2026 to deliver a guest lecture. As she looks back on her career—the achievements, research breakthroughs, and prestigious leadership roles—D’Souza views success through a different lens. 

“I look at the lives I’ve impacted,” she said. “What will continue to drive me and Richard moving forward is the same goal we have always had: Just do good and make a difference.”