Mariela Padilla

Mariela Padilla serves as Professor of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Southern California's Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, where she drives innovation in dental education and orofacial pain research. Her clinical academic role integrates curriculum development with evidence-based pain management strategies across dental disciplines.

Her research spans dental education transformation, orofacial pain pathophysiology, and psychosocial dimensions of dental care. Key interests include social determinants of health integration into curricula, empathy dynamics in dental education, temporomandibular disorder diagnostics, and AI applications for educational personalization. She pioneers virtual learning environments and educational blog repurposing to modernize dental pedagogy.

Recent publications reveal a strong focus on systematic evidence synthesis for pain management (trigeminal neuralgia, neuropathic pain, TMJ disorders) and educational innovation. Her 2023-2025 work emphasizes social determinants of health validation, AI-driven cohort analysis, and empathy measurement in global dental education contexts, demonstrating consistent translational impact from classroom to clinical practice.

Dr. Padilla maintains active clinical research through the CTSI profile system and collaborates extensively on interdisciplinary pain studies, with recent work examining sleep apnea interventions and respiratory muscle therapy efficacy through rigorous meta-analytic methodologies.