Margherita Fontana, DDS, PhD, is the Clifford Nelson Endowed Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics at University of Michigan School of Dentistry (U-M). She is Director of the Global Initiatives Program in Oral and Craniofacial Health at the School of Dentistry. She is currently co-director of Cariology courses, and cariology discipline co-coordinator at U-M. As a principal investigator, she has received research grants associated with cariology from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry, the Delta Dental Fund, DentaQuest, and private industry amongst others. She has over 160 papers published in peer reviewed journals.

Dr. Fontana was the 2007-2008 President of the Cariology Group of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), the 2010-2011 Chair of the Cariology Section of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), and the 2016-2020 President of the American Academy of Cariology. She is currently the 2021-2023 Vice-President of the European Organization for Caries Research (ORCA), and has been Co-Chair of the Alliance for Cavity Free Future (ACFF) Canada-US Chapter since 2015. In 2012 she received the USA Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for her work on caries risk assessment in children. She was the 2009 winner of the IADR Cariology Research Group Basil G. Bibby Award in Cariology, and in 2016 winner of the IADR Burrows Memorial Award.