The UCSF School of Dentistry took a variety of honors at the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) general session and exhibition, June 19-22 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. More than 50 faculty and students attended the event, which brings together oral health researchers from around the globe.
Student presenters this year included new graduate Hailey Taylor (Benjamin Chaffee, mentor), "Oral Microbiome and Anthropometry Changes Following Caries Arrest Using Silver-Nitrate/Fluoride-Varnish"; Daphne Chung (D2; Jing Cheng, mentor), “The Economic Impact of Tobacco Use on Oral Healthcare Costs”; and Steven Gigli (D2; Sneha Oberoi, mentor), "3-D Analysis of Buccal Cortical Thickness in Individuals With UCLP.”
“The UCSF School of Dentistry had an outstanding showing at the Joint IADR/AADR Meeting in Vancouver, BC," said Thomas Lang, PhD, associate dean for research. "Congratulations to our students, postdocs and faculty for their excellent poster and oral presentations, and special congratulations to Dr. Yvonne Kapila on being the 2019 recipient of the prestigious Irwin D. Mandel Distinguished Mentoring Award.”
In addition to Dr. Kapila, award recipients included:
- Allan Radaic, post-doc in Yvonne Kapila's lab, won the highly competitive IADR/Philips Oral Healthcare Young Investigator Research Grant and Award. The award-winning proposal: “The Oral Microbiome Signature of Oral Cancer Transitions.” This project will be conducted in Dr. Kapila's lab in collaboration with faculty from UCSF: Drs. Susan Lynch, Kyle Jones, Patrick Ha and Jing Cheng.
- DDS-PhD student Sarah Wong (mentor: Dr. Ralph Marcucio) won an AADR Student Research Summer Fellowship Award. These fellowships, supported by several major industrial companies, as well as by American Association of Dental Research (AADR) and IADR group chapters, sections and members, are sponsored and administered by the AADR and have been created to encourage dental students living in the United States to consider careers in oral health research. Proposals are sought in basic and clinical research related to oral health.
- Ida Shaffer (DDS-PhD), Amelia Herrera (D2) and Ifunaya Okeke (D2) won IADR Travel Bloc Awards of $1,000 each.
As in past years, the conference experience has proven transformative for student attendees.
“Attending IADR/AADR was an overwhelming and incredible experience for me,” said Katherine Le, vice president of the John C. Greene Society. “It was an immense honor to share my research with and meet so many inspiring professors, researchers, and colleagues from around the world who all are contributing to advancing the dental field in their own ways. I am truly amazed by how passionate the dental research community is and am grateful to meet so many accomplished individuals through this conference.”
The School of Dentistry sent a host of faculty and students to IADR in Vancouver, BC.
