It was a day of celebration and discovery for UCSF School of Dentistry. Last week, over 50 dental students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellow and research associates put their hard-earned accomplishments on display at the annual Research and Clinical Excellence Day (RCED), a convening to fine-tune research presentations before delivering them to a national audience.
The all-day event kicked off in the Nursing Building’s lecture hall with remarks from Sarah Knox, PhD, assistant dean, basic science research; Michael Reddy, DMD, DMSc, dean; and keynote speaker Rena D’Souza, DDS, MS, PhD, director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Dr. D’Souza’s presentation “Oral Health for All: Realizing the Promise of Science,” focused on her ongoing commitment to advancing fundamental knowledge about dental, oral, and craniofacial health for all communities. She also offered several words of inspiration for each student researcher sharing their findings.
An in-person and virtual audience listened to oral presentations. From gene-editing to skeletal development and restorative treatments, a broad range of subjects were explored. Each student’s passion was on display during demonstrations, and that enthusiasm was followed by questions.
The lecture hall then migrated over for the customary poster session in the Millberry Union gymnasium. Hundreds walked into the RCED headquarters and were greeted with rows of researchers ready to talk about their work. Each researcher’s poster was filled with text and graphics, accompanied by a one-on-one explanation for those interested.
After a couple hours of mingling and a break for lunch, the action shifted back to the Nursing Building for additional presentations and the bestowing of awards to select researchers.
One of the standout moments was presenting the Outstanding Clinician Award to this year’s winner, Sampeter Odera, DMD, MD. Appearing humbled and grateful for the honor, Dr. Odera took the audience on a journey through his life, both personal and professional. He spoke about family, his love of teaching, and his journey to, from and back to UCSF Dentistry.
The following is a full list of winners from Research and Clinical Excellence Day fall 2022. Congratulations to everyone!
| Category |
Winner |
Second |
Third |
|---|
| Research Associate |
Katharine Striedinger
(Mentor: Dr. Jason Pomerantz) |
|
|
| Resident |
Dr. Richa Singhania
(Mentor: Dr. Enihomo Obadan) |
|
|
| Postdoctoral |
Dr. Camilla Teng
(Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Bush) |
Dr. Viviana Agayo
(Mentor: Dr. Licia Selleri) |
Dr. Nicholas Hanne
(Mentor: Dr. Ralph Marcucio) |
| Graduate |
TIE
Tiange (Tony) Qu
(Mentor: Dr. Licia Selleri) &
Darnell Cuylear
(Mentor: Dr. Tejal Desai)
|
TIE
Margot Bacino
(Mentor: Dr. Sue Lynch) & Lea Sedghi
(Mentor: Dr. Sue Lynch) |
|
| Predoctoral |
Anna Nguyen
(Mentor: Dr. Stefan Habelitz) |
TIE
Jacqueline Ong
(Mentor: Dr. Guo-Hao “Alex” Lin) & Byron Zhao
(Mentor: Dr. Christine Hong)
|
Rachel Paik
(Mentor: Dr. Licia Selleri)
|
| People's Choice Award |
Kate Lindsey (Mentor: Dr. Christine Ho) |
|
|
