Rishma Shah, DDS, MS, PhD, has been named the third recipient of the Joseph R. and Louise Ada Jarabak Professorship. The purpose of the professorship is to enhance and further orthodontic education, to stimulate research in anatomy and physiology and function of the stomatognathic system, to continue research in TMJ disorders, and to stimulate and encourage continued development of orthodontic teachers.
Dr. Shah joined IUSD in 2024 as associate professor with tenure in the Department of Orthodontics and Oral Facial Genetics. She has training and expertise in craniofacial orthodontics and also serves as a member of the Cleft and Craniofacial Anomalies Team at Riley Children’s Health. She came to IUSD from the Division of Craniofacial and Surgical Care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry. Prior to that, she served on the faculty of the University College London Eastman Dental Institute in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Shah earned her Bachelor of Dental Surgery with honors at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals. She received a master’s degree in orthodontics with distinction at the Eastman Dental Institute, and a PhD in biomaterials and tissue engineering at University College London. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Higher Education Academy.
At Indiana University, with labs at the dental school and the School of Medicine, Dr. Shah’s muscle research focuses on craniofacial anomalies.
“Our overall goal is to build functioning muscle tissue for patients suffering from craniofacial soft tissue defects,” Dr. Shah said. “My clinical work with patients with cleft and craniofacial anomalies has allowed me to appreciate the challenges faced by this vulnerable, underserved population. We need to provide the best care and outcomes, allowing these patients to fully integrate into society and enjoy life the same as a person without craniofacial difference. I hope that one day my basic science research will translate to the clinic and provide an innovative treatment option for patients with craniofacial soft tissue defects.”
Dr. Shah’s research is funded by an R01 award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and other external funders, including the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation.
Caring for patients with cleft and craniofacial anomalies, Dr. Shah also realized long-term speech articulation problems are common in this population. She invented, and holds a patent for, a mobile intraoral speech device and gaming app with immediate audio-visual feedback that helps wearers learn tongue placement needed for correct articulation of speech sounds.
Dr. Shah said she will use the professorship to facilitate her passion for patients, research, and teaching dentists and orthodontists to do great work, providing the highest standard of care for patients wherever they may end up in their practicing lives.
“I want to be like the brilliant professors who taught me,” Dr. Shah said. “Every step of the way, somebody has opened a door for me. I did not come from a privileged background. I was awarded a grant to go to dental school. Paying it forward is my way of giving back and expressing my gratitude for all the opportunities offered to me.”
Dr. Joseph Jarabak was a renowned orthodontist, scholar, and educator, who practiced in Valparaiso, Indiana. While he neither attended nor taught at Indiana University, he lent a generous hand to Indiana’s dental school during his lifetime, a generosity that has continued long after his death in 1989. The Jarabak family established the professorship at Loyola University Chicago, where Dr. Jarabak chaired the orthodontics program. When Loyola’s dental school closed, the family transferred the professorship to IUSD.
The professorship first was awarded in 2002 to Dr. Gene Roberts, chair of IUSD’s Department of Orthodontics from 1998 to 2008.
Like Dr. Shah, Dr. Jarabak also was an inventor. He developed the Jarabak Analysis, a cephalometric analysis that interprets how craniofacial growth may affect pre- and post-treatment dentition. He also published the orthodontics textbook, Technique and Treatment with the Light-Wire Appliance (C. V. Mosby 1963).
“Dr. Shah has been an amazing addition to our IUSD family, and I am thrilled that she has been named as the Joseph R. and Louise Ada Jarabak Professor,” said Dr. Kelton Stewart, Orthodontics and Oral Facial Genetics chair and the James J. Baldwin Professor of Orthodontics. “Her unparalleled passion for the discovery, dissemination, and application of new knowledge as a clinical scientist is truly inspiring. Dr. Shah's steadfast commitment to identifying innovative scientific solutions to support our patients aligns perfectly with the aspirations Dr. Jarabak envisioned when he established the Professorship.”