A. Omar Abubaker is professor and chairman of the oral and maxillofacial surgery department at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry and chief of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the university’s School of Medicine. He maintains a busy intramural private practice in oral and maxillofacial surgery and is actively involved in teaching dental and medical students and oral and maxillofacial surgery residents.
Abubaker is also active in education in the areas of addiction, the opioid epidemic, and oral and facial pain management. In 2015, he earned a graduate certificate in addiction studies from the International Program in Addiction Studies, jointly administered by Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Adelaide and Kings College London.
He has co-authored two oral and maxillofacial surgery textbooks, more than 100 book chapters, 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and numerous abstracts and presentations. He has presented to more than 100 local, regional and national organizations on the topics of the opioid epidemic, addiction and postoperative pain management in dental, oral and facial settings. He also implemented changes in the oral surgery curriculum at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry to include scientific information on substance use disorders and safe prescribing after dental procedures. He has appeared in many local and national media platforms and testified before the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. He has received numerous local and national educational and service awards for his work on the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders.
Abubaker is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. He also completed his residency training and an oral and maxillofacial surgery fellowship at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been on the faculty of the School of Dentistry and the Medical Center at Virginia Commonwealth University since 1991. He is certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
During the past couple of years, Abubaker has extended his service by becoming the NIH/NIDCR Member of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board to study more effective and safe postoperative dental pain management methods. He is part of a recent proposal for multicenter research to study practical and safe pain management following the extraction of wisdom teeth. He is also on the board of directors of 2 End the Stigma, a nonprofit organization that provides education, guidance and resources to end the stigma associated with substance use disorder.
