Today's the day! Post your questions!
June 10 marks the premiere session of Ask Me Anything, a monthly series that is part of the School of Dentistry's effort to increase and facilitate communication around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Shaun Abrams, DDS, PhD (class of 2020), will answer questions on "The power and challenges of being 'The First'" — reflections and lessons learned navigating the DDS/PhD program at UCSF and becoming its first Black graduate.
Dr. Shaun Abrams hails from Brooklyn, NY, and graduated valedictorian from the City University of New York (CUNY) Medgar Evers College in 2006. Following his undergraduate studies, he worked as a Postbac IRTA in the lab of Dr. Matthew Hoffman at the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) studying salivary gland stem cell maintenance and expansion during organogenesis to develop regenerative therapeutic strategies. Dr. Abrams completed the DDS/PhD program at UCSF in 2020, graduating with honors and inducted into the Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society. He was the recipient of numerous academic scholarships including the UCSF Chancellor’s Scholarship, the Clinton P. Ulrich Award for Academic Excellence & Leadership and the Delta Dental Student Leadership Award. Dr. Abrams also took on many leadership roles during dental school including being Co-President of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA), Co-President of the Gender & Sexual Diversity in Dentistry Alliance (GSDDA), and Academic Chair of Xi Psi Phi Dental Fraternity. Dr. Abrams completed his PhD work in the lab of Dr. Jeremy Reiter where he uncovered how primary cilia regulate development of the facial midline. His passion for presenting his research to diverse audiences won him the Runner-up award in the 2016 UCSF Grad Slam Competition.
This summer, Dr. Abrams will return to NIH/NIDCR as a Dental Clinical Research Fellow, working jointly in the Werner and Kerosuo labs to identify novel ubiquitination pathway components involved in craniofacial bone & cartilage formation from neural crest cells. He will also work with Dr. Meral Gunay-Aygun at Johns Hopkins University to perform craniofacial assessment of patients from a craniofacial ciliopathy cohort to better understand the genetic basis for craniofacial malformations in these patients and how intercellular communication coordinates facial development. In his free time, Dr. Abrams enjoys singing in choral groups, taking Afro-Brazilian dance classes, and finding new hiking trails to explore.
Participants: On June 10, post questions in the comment field below. All questions/comments will be moderated. Dr. Abrams will post answers throughout the day.
