Emily Y. Chu DDS, PhD

Assistant Professor

Dr. Emily Chu graduated from the University of Washington School of Dentistry with a DDS in 2012 and a PhD in Oral Biology in 2015. After graduation, she was a Research/Clinical Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where she was awarded a K99/R00 grant to start her research lab.  She joined UMSOD in 2021, where, in addition to her research, she instructs first-year dental students in dental anatomy, introduction of operative, and biomaterials courses.  As a general dentist, she also practices in Faculty Practice.  Her laboratory at UMSOD focuses on studying the roles of pyrophosphate regulators in cementogenesis and cementum regeneration.  Simultaneously, effects on cementum are compared to effects on other mineralized tissues, e.g., bone.  Additionally, she has research interests in studying dentoalveolar phenotypes associated with rare human diseases and effects of environmental factors on tooth development. 

 

Current Lab Members

Hannah Bui

Hyun (Christy) Kim

Julia Messing

Shiv Patel

Justin Pokrant

Cameron Watson

Jacob Yu

Ryan Yu

Eddie Zhang

 

Past Lab Members

Keyu Chen

Seung-Joon Hwang, DDS

Matthew Jenkins

Alexandra Kinder

Andrew Pak

Angelina Park

Paul Teng

Kelly Zhang

 

Teaching activities:

Dental Anatomy (FOUN511)

Introduction to Operative Dentistry (FOUN518A)

Biomaterials (BMAT12)

 

Research Grants

Completed: R00DE031148

Active: R03DE034020

 

Awards

2025 William Butler Fellowship

2022 AADOCR Mind the Future Mentee, AADOCR

 

Selected Publications

  1. Rizk M and Chu E (co-first author), Craveiro R, Elmas M, Brenji S, Niederau C, Marx N, Foster B, Somerman M, Wolf. M. Reduced orthodontic tooth movement in Ank knockout mice. JBMR Plus Accepted.
  2. Chavez MB, Andras NL, Tan MH, Kolli TN, Chu EY, Goldberg HA, Foster BL. Exogenous bone sialoprotein improves extraction socket healing in Ibsp knockout and wild-type mice. Bone. 2025 Mar;192:117381. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117381. Epub 2024 Dec 23. PubMed PMID: 39722365; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11761379.
  3. Obiezu F, Almpani K, Kim HJ, Zalewski C, Chu E, Jahanmir G, Roszko KL, Boyce A, Farhadi F, Weinstein LS, Gafni RI, Ferreira CR, Jüppner H, Collins MT, Lee JS, Jha S. Jansen metaphyseal chondrodysplasia: analysis of craniofacial manifestations. JBMR Plus. 2025 Feb;9(2):ziae156. doi: 10.1093/jbmrpl/ziae156. eCollection 2025 Feb. PubMed PMID: 39830149; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11736719.
  4. He B, Kram V, Furusawa T, Duverger O, Chu EY, Nanduri R, Ishikawa M, Zhang P, Amendt BA, Lee JS, Bustin M. Epigenetic Regulation of Ameloblast Differentiation by HMGN Proteins. J Dent Res. 2024 Jan;103(1):51-61. doi: 10.1177/00220345231202468. Epub 2023 Nov 10. PubMed PMID: 37950483; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10850876.
  5. Michel ZD, Aitken SF, Glover OD, Alejandro LO, Randazzo D, Dambkowski C, Martin D, Collins MT, Somerman MJ, Chu EY. Infigratinib, a selective FGFR1-3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, alters dentoalveolar development at high doses. Dev Dyn. 2023 Dec;252(12):1428-1448. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.642. Epub 2023 Jul 12. PubMed PMID: 37435833; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10784415.
  6. Chu EY. The osteoblast sodium-citrate co-transporter (SLC13A5): a gatekeeper between global citrate homeostasis and tissue mineralization. Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research. 2023 August; 32.
  7. Mohamed FF, Amadeu de Oliveira F, Kinoshita Y, Yalamanchili RR, Eltilib LA, Andras NL, Narisawa S, Tani T, Chu EY, Millán JL, Foster BL. Dentoalveolar Alterations in an Adenine-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease Mouse Model. J Bone Miner Res. 2023 Aug;38(8):1192-1207. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.4829. Epub 2023 May 27. PubMed PMID: 37191192; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10524958.
  8. Chavez MB, Tan MH, Kolli TN, Zachariadou C, Farah F, Mohamed FF, Chu EY, Foster BL. Bone Sialoprotein Is Critical for Alveolar Bone Healing in Mice. J Dent Res. 2023 Feb;102(2):187-196. doi: 10.1177/00220345221126716. Epub 2022 Nov 14. PMID: 36377066.
  9. Dirckx N, Zhang Q, Chu EY, Tower RJ, Li Z, Guo S, Yuan S, Khare PA, Zhang C, Verardo A, Alejandro LO, Park A, Faugere MC, Helfand SL, Somerman MJ, Riddle RC, de Cabo R, Le A, Schmidt-Rohr K, Clemens TL. A specialized metabolic pathway partitions citrate in hydroxyapatite to impact mineralization of bones and teeth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Nov 8;119(45):e2212178119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2212178119. Epub 2022 Nov 2. PMID: 36322718; PMCID: PMC9659386.
  10. Zimmerman K, Liu X, von Kroge S, Stabach P, Lester ER, Chu EY, Srivastava S, Somerman MJ, Tommasini SM, Busse B, Schinke T, Carpenter TO, Oheim R, Braddock DT. Catalysis-Independent ENPP1 Protein Signaling Regulates Mammalian Bone Mass. J Bone Miner Res. 2022 Sep;37(9):1733-1749. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.4640. Epub 2022 Jul 29. PMID: 35773783; PMCID: PMC9709593.
  11. Andras NL, Mohamed FF, Chu EY, Foster BL. Between a rock and a hard place: Regulation of mineralization in the periodontium. Genesis. 2022 Sep;60(8-9):e23474. doi: 10.1002/dvg.23474. Epub 2022 Apr 23. PMID: 35460154; PMCID: PMC9492628.
  12. Lira Dos Santos EJ, de Almeida AB, Chavez MB, Salmon CR, Mofatto LS, Camara-Souza MB, Tan MH, Kolli TN, Mohamed FF, Chu EY, Novaes PD, Santos ECA, Kantovitz KR, Foster BL, Nociti FH Jr. Orthodontic tooth movement alters cementocyte ultrastructure and cellular cementum proteome signature. Bone. 2021 Aug 4;:116139. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2021.116139. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34364013; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8478897.
  13. Lira Dos Santos EJ, Salmon CR, Chavez MB, de Almeida AB, Tan MH, Chu EY, Sallum EA, Casati MZ, Ruiz KGS, Kantovitz KR, Foster BL, Júnior FHN. Cementocyte alterations associated with experimentally induced cellular cementum apposition in hyp mice. J Periodontol. 2021 May 18;. doi: 10.1002/JPER.21-0119. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34003518; NIHMSID:NIHMS1705839.
  14. Chu EY, Golob Deeb J, Foster BL, Hajishengalis E, Somerman MJ, and Thumbigere-Math V.  Multiple Idiopathic Cervical Root Resorption: A Challenge for a Transdisciplinary Medical-Dental Team.  Front Dent Med. 2021 Mar;2. doi: 10.3389/fdmed.2021.652605. Epub 2021 Mar 26. PubMed PMID: 34368800; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8340576.
  15. Chu EY, Chavez MB, Kram V, de Castro LF, Somerman MJ, Foster BL.  Recommendations for Micro-Computed Tomography Analysis of Rodent Dentoalveolar Tissues.  JBMR Plus. 2021 Mar;5(3):e10474. doi: 10.1002/jbm4.10474. eCollection 2021 Mar. Review. PubMed PMID: 33778330; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7990153.
  16. Lee AE, Chu EY, Gardner PJ, Duverger O, Saikali A, Wang SK, Gafni RI, Hartley IR, Ten Hagen KG, Somerman MJ, Collins MT.  A cross-sectional cohort study of the effects of FGF23 deficiency and hyperphosphatemia on dental structures in hyperphosphatemic familial tumor calcinosis, JBMR Plus. 2021 May;5(5):e10470. doi: 10.1002/jbm4.10470. eCollection 2021 May. PubMed PMID: 33977199; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8101615.
  17. Nagasaki A, Nagasaki K, Chu EY, Kear BD, Ferebee S, Li L, Foster BL, Somerman MJ.  Ablation of Pyrophosphate Regulators Promotes Periodontal Regeneration.  J Dent Res. 2021 Jun;100(6):639-647. doi: 10.1177/0022034520981854. Epub 2020 Dec 24. PubMed PMID: 33356859 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8142086.
  18. Chavez MB, Kramer K, Chu EY, Thumbigere-Math V, Foster BL. Insights into dental mineralization from three heritable mineralization disorders. J Struct Biol. 2020 Oct 1;212(1):107597. doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107597. Epub 2020 Aug 3. PubMed PMID: 32758526; PMCID: PMC7530110.
  19. Kram V, Jani P, Kilts TM, Li L, Chu EY, Young MF. OPG-Fc treatment partially rescues low bone mass phenotype in mature Bgn/Fmod deficient mice but is deleterious to the young mouse skeleton. J Struct Biol. 2020 Sep 17;212(3):107627. doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107627. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32950603 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7744403.
  20. Chu EY, Vo TD, Chavez MB, Nagasaki A, Mertz E, Nociti FH, Aitken SF, Kavanagh D, Zimmerman K, Li X, Stabach PR, Braddock DB, Millan JL, Foster BL, Somerman MJ.  Genetic and pharmacologic modulation of cementogenesis via pyrophosphate regulators.  Bone 2020 Jul;136:115329. PMID: 32224162, PMCID: PMC7482720.