Introducing Dr. Benjamin Coyac: Our New Faculty Member

Benjamin Coyac is a Senior Lecturer at Tel Aviv University’s School of Dental Medicine in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. He earned his dental and doctoral degrees from Paris Descartes University, specialized in periodontology at Rothschild Hospital, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford University. After making Aliyah, he received his Israeli specialty in periodontology at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa. Dr. Coyac focuses on the interplay between bone mineralization and tissue regeneration. He studies healing processes using a range of techniques and advanced animal models of dental procedures and rare bone diseases. Benjamin Coyac has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in English, French, and Hebrew. Dr. Coyac has received several awards, including the 2021 André Schroeder Research Prize. He is a laureate of the French National Academy of Dental Surgery.

Dr. Benjamin Coyac: Craniofacial Ossification Laboratory

Our skeleton and teeth are bio-rocks. They share the same mineral nature as all other geological crystals, but unlike gemstones, bones are specifically sculpted by proteins and molecules. This biological control over geology provides unique features that are seemingly contradictory, such as robustness and lightness, stability and remodeling. Our laboratory investigates how these regulatory molecules impact bone formation and repair. Using models of rare bone diseases and advanced dental surgeries, we decipher molecular mechanisms underlying the interplay between biomineralization and each step of bone ossification. Based on mechanistic insight, we aim at developing clinically relevant strategies to overcome current limitations on bone regeneration.