Dr. Barry Sessle

BARRY JOHN SESSLE, Professor, Faculty of Dentistry and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, has provided major insights into neural mechanisms underlying orofacial function and into the aetiology and treatment of several disorders of the face, mouth and jaws related to pain, chewing and swallowing. His extensive and pioneering studies have resulted in remarkable advances in knowledge of the central neural organization of the trigeminal system, specifically of the brainstem mechanisms involved in orofacial nociceptive transmission and its control and neuroplasticity, the brainstem pathways underlying orofacial motor behaviours such as chewing and swallowing, and the organization and role of the sensorimotor cerebral cortex in the initiation and regulation of these motor behaviours.