The 2016 Global Oral Health Symposium, “Oral Health Inequalities: From Measurement to Action,” highlighted efforts to move beyond numbers to effective solutions. Speakers at the April 7 event included the School of Dentistry's Stuart Gansky, MS, DrPH; Michelle Henshaw, DDS, MPH, of Boston University; Gloria Mejia, DDS, MPH, PhD, of East Carolina University; and Richard Watt, BDS, MSc, of University College London.

Ling Zhan, DDS, PhD, and Oscar Reyna-Blanco were awarded the UCSF Faculty and Student Awards (respectively) for Achievement in Global Health.

Related link:

Symposium Addresses Oral Health Disparities

Dozens of School of Dentistry staff and faculty reaching service milestones were feted at the school's annual celebration on April 6. Six marked 40 or more years of service, and one — Benjamin Dienstein — was noted for his 70 years with the school.

Tribute was paid to the late Peggy Walsh and Larry Watanabe, who both passed away during the previous year.

Dr. Menka Djordjevic (left) and professor Elena Ortega at an evidence-based dentistry training session. Photos by Alexander Lipske

The American Dental Association defines evidence-based dentistry as “an approach to oral health care that requires the judicious integration of systematic assessments of clinically relevant scientific evidence, relating to the patient’s oral and medical condition and history, with the dentist’s clinical expertise and the patient’s treatment needs and preferences.” The School of Dentistry is embracing this philosophy, and recently held school-wide training in EBD for faculty.

The Curriculum Steering Committee brought in Drs. Elliot Abt and Rick Niederman, internationally known experts in EBD, for training sessions April 11-15. Nearly 100 faculty attended.

Abt is a private practice general dentist in Chicago and chair of the ADA Council of Scientific Affairs. Niederman is chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion at New York University. Both are trained experts in EBD and lead courses for the ADA.

UCSF is the first dental school in the United States to offer such an extensive training in this area to its faculty. With a core group of teaching faculty speaking the same language about EBD, the school is now ready to move forward with implementing this into day-to-day teaching.

Ongoing opportunities for applying EBD principles to both teaching and clinical practice will be announced soon.

Our 2015-2020 Strategic Plan focuses on excellence in patient care, education and discovery. This month we feature the Education section of the plan.

As an internationally recognized dental school, we will continue to provide the world’s best education for future health professionals through a dynamic, contemporary core curriculum, enriched with opportunities to develop individual expertise in education, research, service and leadership.

Our curriculum will emphasize evidence-based dentistry, learner-centered education, patient-centered care, collaboration with dental hygienists and other health care professionals, dental public health experiences, and the application of electronic health records and other IT tools.

Our curriculum and training will prepare graduates for a systems-based practice environment, so that they are prepared for changes in the profession and their careers.

The predoctoral, graduate and postgraduate curricula will remain contemporary through regular evaluation and infusion with new evidence-based information.

We will emphasize excellence in teaching with an experienced, competent and caring faculty in a supportive and welcoming learning environment.

Our excellent education will equip students, residents and post-doctoral professionals with the vital competencies and tools needed to provide excellent patient care, and to lead, influence and re-shape the future of health care.

Look for more about our strategic plan in May, and learn more about our commitment to achieve excellence in patient care, education and discovery.

Related link:
Read more articles on the School of Dentistry Strategic Plan

UCSF dental students recently traveled to Ventura to help at the CDA Cares event. Dean Gretzinger, D2 student, arranged for a number of the students to assist and translate for UCSF alumni, as well as other dentists who were participating. Students were able to see in real terms how they can help others. Nearly 2,000 patients received care; many would not have received any treatment, most often due to high costs.

UCSF plans to attend the Oct. 15-16 CDA Cares event in Stockton. Area alumni already are gearing up: A barbecue is planned, and alumni are offering to house dental students for the weekend.

Delta Dental Student Leadership Award recipient Jane Myung, with John Yamamoto of Delta Dental (left) and UCSF Dentistry Dean John D.B. Featherstone

Fourth-year student Jane Myung has received Delta Dental’s Student Leadership Award for 2016. The $20,000 award was presented at a luncheon at Delta Dental’s San Francisco office.

The Delta Dental Foundation recognizes students who have exhibited excellence in academic and leadership skills, and who have demonstrated outstanding passion for service in dentistry. Awardees must maintain outstanding academic and clinical status and have received approvals and support from colleagues and faculty for the award.

“I am grateful and humbled to receive such a prestigious award. I thank all the faculty mentors who have guided me along the way,” said Myung, who has served as class president, coordinated volunteer efforts and led a number of research projects during her studies.

Integrity has been a touchstone in Myung’s work. “[It’s] something that I strive to live by every day, whether it be carrying out my own research projects, helping my classmates, or providing care for my patients. I try to put my best effort and intentions in everything I do, with humility and respect for others.”
 

Maurizio Risolino, PhD, has authored the winning proposal for the 2016 Damsky Award (Program in Craniofacial Biology FY16-17 Exploratory Grants Initiative).

The award is supported by an endowed fund established by Caroline Damsky, PhD, longtime researcher and faculty member at UCSF. The fund supports projects developed by trainees and junior faculty in related oral health clinical specialties, such as orthodontics and craniofacial anomalies, that propose to mine the Craniofacial Center’s data for new insights into the etiology and treatment of craniofacial defects.

Risolino’s proposal is "Prenatal Repair of Cleft Lip/Palate by Reactivation of Developmental Programs." He is in Dr. Licia Selleri’s lab in the Program in Craniofacial Biology.

Kei Katsura discusses her poster presentation at the 2016 UCSF Inquiry Symposium.

Four School of Dentistry students presented digital scientific posters at the 2016 UCSF Inquiry Symposium, May 4 at Millberry Union Gymnasium. The students and their poster themes were:

• Brianna Devito, Interprofessional Dental Outreach for Adults with Serious Mental Illness
• Kei Katsura, Investigating WDR72's intracellular function in matrix protein removal during enamel mineralization
• Lili Szabo, Interprofessional Oral Health Education for Undergraduate Medical Students
• Sarah Wong, Transdifferentiation of Chondrocytes to Osteoblasts during Endochondral Ossification in the Healing Mandible

Presenting students were allotted five minutes to present their scientific poster and five minutes for questions and answers. “Meet and greet” periods following the two poster sessions allowed attendees to further engage with students.

Students from UCSF's four professional schools take part in the annual symposium, which is co-sponsored by Pathways to Discovery and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. The event also included the Pathways to Discovery Awards Ceremony, where students received the School of Medicine Dean's Prize and other awards.

Related link:
2016 UCSF Inquiry Symposium

L-R: School of Dentistry Dean John D.B. Featherstone, Sneha Oberoi, Karin Vargervik, Ophir Klein

Healer and researcher are roles Karin Vargervik, DDS, has filled for years at UCSF. Now, she is taking on a new role: benefactor.

For several years, Dr. Vargervik, a professor emerita in the School of Dentistry, has made significant gifts to the UCSF Foundation. Funds (including donations from alumni and faculty) currently totaling more than $346,000 are seeding an endowment in the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies. The Karin Vargervik Endowment for Craniofacial Orthodontics will assist education and patient care activities in the division.

Close to 50 guests celebrated the establishment of the endowment at a May 5 reception at the Parnassus campus.

“Creating a fund that may help the craniofacial orthodontist to provide the necessary treatments has been a long-standing dream that I am now trying to make into a reality,” said Dr. Vargervik. “In addition to helping the individual patient, the endowment — which eventually may be a professorship in this new craniofacial orthodontic specialty — will also bring recognition to this specialty and will enhance its academic standing in the program and school as well as increase referrals to the program.” As the fund grows, it may also support education, such as a fellowship and clinical research.

Dr. Vargervik first came to UCSF on a research project in 1969, planning to stay just one year. That stay ultimately turned into a career spanning 45 years in clinical care, teaching and research, including directing the Center for Craniofacial Anomalies.

“As a craniofacial team leader and craniofacial orthodontist, I am very familiar with the needs of the children and their families and know the many obstacles they may meet in order to receive optimal care for their conditions,” said Dr. Vargervik. As treatment often extends over many years, from infancy to adulthood, financial support over the long haul is a concern.

“This requires funding for all aspects of care such as nursing and feeding instructions, surgical procedures, social services, speech therapy, dental care and orthodontic treatment,” she explained. Orthodontic treatment often is particularly poorly funded; prosthetic treatment may even be denied. The endowment is one effort to help meet that profound need.

L-R: Henry Chinn, Caroline Shiboski, Dean John D.B. Featherstone, Troy Daniels, Daniel Ramos, Elena Ortega

Naming the Oral Medicine Clinic in Sol Silverman’s memory is contingent upon a $1 million endowment. Donors already have given $502,500 toward the goal; a campaign is underway to raise the remainder. If you would like to contribute toward the fundraising goal, contact Lynnette Teti in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.

A reception on May 3 celebrated the opening of the Oral Medicine Clinic’s new location. In addition to looking ahead at the clinic’s future, it also paid tribute to the legacy of the late Sol “Bud” Silverman Jr., longtime professor of oral medicine who founded the clinic in 1956.

Several dozen guests attended the reception. Caroline Shiboski, DDS, MPH, PhD, chair of the Department of Orofacial Sciences, announced that a $500,000 anonymous gift has been given toward renaming the clinic in Dr. Silverman’s memory.

In her remarks, Dr. Shiboski remembered Dr. Silverman as not only founder of the Oral Medicine Clinic (originally the Oral Medicine Stomatology Clinic), but one of the founding fathers of the discipline itself.

“I can’t think of any better way to honor him,” said Dr. Shiboski, one of many oral medicine specialists who trained under Dr. Silverman.

Dr. Silverman graduated from the UCSF School of Dentistry in 1954 and joined the faculty that same year, immersing himself in the then-young dental specialty field of oral medicine with professor Hermann Becks. Under Dr. Silverman’s stewardship, UCSF’s Department of Oral Medicine and Hospital Dentistry flourished and developed an interdisciplinary approach to education, research and patient care.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Silverman published many articles, book chapters and monographs. His publications now have a permanent home in the Sol Silverman Digital Library, curated after his passing in 2014. The library website, which will launch later this year, was previewed in the clinic during the reception.

The new clinic space, which Oral Medicine occupied in January, is both cozy and cutting-edge. Its location, on the seventh floor of the Medical Sciences Building at UCSF’s Parnassus campus, will open new opportunities for working with other clinics and departments, Dr. Shiboski said.

Sharing some space with Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery will allow for a “nice collaboration” between the two clinics. Moreover, “our proximity to Oral Surgery will greatly facilitate referrals across clinics,” she said.

One feature of the new clinic space is a room designed with gurney access. “Patients can be wheeled straight from Moffitt [Hospital],” Dr. Shiboski said. “For hospital consults, it’s quite helpful.”

>> More scenes from the Oral Medicine Clinic reception

Dr. Molly Fisher, class of 1966, receives her 50-year medallion from Dean John Featherstone during Alumni Weekend 2016.

By Terri Hunter-Davis

When Maurice Louis Green graduated from UC San Francisco in 1901, the young dentist was barely older than the 20-year-old school he had just attended. The first buildings on Mount Sutro were finished the year before, housing the School of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and College of Dentistry on what would become the Parnassus campus.

As the new century dawned, the young Dr. Green started practicing in Oakland — and began a remarkable legacy. He was the first of three generations — his son, Maurice Samuel Green, and his granddaughter, Molly Ann (Green) Fisher — of UCSF dentists.

There wasn’t a conscious effort to make dentistry the family business, Dr. Fisher said. In fact, the elder Dr. Green passed away the year his son entered dental school.

“My father greatly admired his father,” said Dr. Fisher — he certainly wasn’t averse to following in his footsteps. A bigger influence, though, may have been a familial tendency to enjoy tactile work.

“He was very hands-on, very inventive,” Dr. Fisher said of her father, who graduated from UCSF in 1941, served in the U.S. Navy during and immediately after World War II, and practiced dentistry in the South Pacific right after the war’s end. “And I also love working with my hands, doing all sorts of crafts.”

But being exposed to the world of dentistry — in addition to her dentist father, Dr. Fisher’s mother, Rosemarie Marshall Green, was a 1935 UCSF grad in dental hygiene — seemed to have set the stage for Dr. Fisher, who was awarded her 50-year medallion at Alumni Weekend in April.

“I made up my mind early, by high school,” recalled Dr. Fisher. Although neither of her parents particularly steered her toward the field, to Dr. Fisher, “dentistry seemed like a good fit.”

After graduating from UCSF in 1966, she earned her master of science in pediatric dentistry at the University of Michigan. She later went on to practice in San Leandro and Livermore, retiring in 1994. Similarly, both her father and grandfather enjoyed long careers in dentistry.

The field has evolved dramatically since Maurice Louis Green became a dentist.

“There certainly have been lots of changes, even between me and when my father was practicing,” Dr. Fisher said. “He worked five and a half days a week, including Saturday. He did his own lab work.” Reliance on assistants has grown significantly.

Who becomes a dentist also has changed.

“There now are so many women in dentistry,” Dr. Fisher observed. “There were only two women in my class.”

It appears the Green dynasty in dentistry may have run its course. Dr. Fisher’s son is a computer scientist; her daughter is a nurse.

“She worked for me one summer as a dental assistant,” Dr. Fisher recalled. “She definitely was not headed in that direction,” although a life in the health professions did seem evident.

“She has all the right attributes,” Dr. Fisher said. And like her mother, grandfather and great-grandfather before her, “she enjoys service.”

Founders Day Award winners, from left, Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL; Jayne McCullough, RN, BSN, CCRN; Susan Lau; Dentistry's Roger Mraz; Suzanne Barakat, MD; Eunice Stephens; Robert Mansfield, MSc; Susan J. O'Hara, MPA; Lisa Raskulinec, MBA; and Don Woodson. Photo by Sonya Yruel

By Terri Hunter-Davis

Dentistry’s Roger Mraz, program administrator for the Office of Graduate and Research Affairs and the Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Graduate Program, is a 2016 winner of the UCSF Chancellor Award for Exceptional University Service.

Mraz is one of 11 to receive Founders Day awards on May 20. The awards — established in 1978 by former Chancellor Francis A. Sooy, MD —  recognizes and rewards exceptional University service by non-academic staff members who devote time and energy to support and serve the campus community and mission, above and beyond the scope of one’s job. Other Chancellor Awards include advancement of women, disability service, exceptional university management, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender leadership.

When Mraz started at UCSF, his basic job was to carry out administrative support of the graduate programs in the School of Dentistry. But according to his colleagues, Mraz’s responsibilities have broadened to include much more than this. In his role of coordinating and managing activities that affect almost every aspect of educational pathway of the DDS, DDS/PhD and PhD students, he has become a trusted confidant and a first-line supporter for Dentistry students. Along with that, he plays an important role in outreach to prospective students and also is responsible for organizing complex and large-scale activities for the Research Office, including the School Wide Research and Clinical Excellence Day and the Research Retreat.

“As opposed to simply being a program administrator, he is truly a program leader in every sense of the phrase, touching on every aspect of the [School of Dentistry], from education, to research and to interaction with the whole University,” wrote Thomas F. Lang, PhD, and Ralph Marcucio, PhD, in nominating Mraz.

Others in the School of Dentistry also hold Mraz in high esteem. 

“Roger is a remarkable person who will consistently invest in seeing a project through to the best possible outcome,” said Benjamin Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD, head of the school's Global Oral Health Program. The program’s recent global oral health symposium is an example of such projects to which Mraz has lent his expertise and commitment.

Similarly, Mraz showed the same commitment while administrator for the Program in Craniofacial Biology.

“He was truly a joy to work with,” said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, chair of the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies and director of the Center for Craniofacial Anomalies and Craniofacial Clinic. “Not only was he incredibly competent, smart and efficient, but he also demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the faculty and trainees in the program. He was an essential part of getting the program off the ground — we could not have done it without him."

“What’s extraordinary about Roger,” Chaffee said, “is how clearly he cares not only about the quality of his work but also about the people whom he supports with his work: faculty, administrators and, especially, the students.”

“You would be hard pressed to find any person who has given more of themselves in their commitment to UCSF dental students than Roger Mraz,” wrote D4 DDS/PhD candidate Shaun Abrams in his letter nominating Mraz for the award.

Abrams credits Mraz as one of the reasons he came to UCSF. “I first met Roger as a predental student applicant at a dental research conference,” Abrams recalled. “Not only did Roger encourage me to apply, he went out of his way to invite me to the UCSF dentistry reception and personally introduce me to the dean of the school, as well as to current DDS/PhD students.” Mraz has supported students through outreach to prospective applicants and coordinating research opportunities for current students. But he’s also lent a more personal touch.

“While I have a hard time remembering the birthdays of my family, Roger can keep track of more than 350 student birthdays,” Abrams said — and that remembrance usually includes homemade cookies. “That he takes the time to keep track of our birthdays, exam schedules and intramural games speaks volumes to Roger’s dedication and commitment to students at UCSF.”

UCSF News Center contributed to this report.

Related link:
2016 Founders Day Awards Honor Exemplary Public Service, Staff Contributions

The American College of Dentists, Northern California Section has bestowed its Outstanding Student Leader and Outstanding Faculty Member awards to Hansel Poerwanto and Dr. Sophia Saeed.

Poerwanto, a fourth-year dental student, was noted for organizing events for the American Student Dental Association, serving on the ASDA Community Service committee, and receiving the Community Dental Clinic Volunteering Award in 2013-14.

Looking ahead to his future dental career, Poerwanto was described by Dr. Grant Tuji and Dr. Saeed as demonstrating excellence and compassion in patient care, solid clinical judgment, preparedness for class, ability to work in a team, and excellent oral and written skills.

Dr. Saeed was noted for her curriculum work as well as for her teaching, for which she has received the Admiral Paul Riebe Award for Clinical Teaching (student nominated), the ADEA Excellence in Academia Award, and the Pierre Fauchard Dental Faculty Development Grant. She also was nominated for the National ADEA Excellence in Teaching Award this year. She practices within the general dentistry faculty group practice at UCSF Dental Center.

Recently Dr. Saeed arranged a weeklong Evidence-Based Dentistry program for faculty. This was attended by about 100 faculty members and was well received. As a result of the program, a UCSF Clinician Journal Club has been developed.

iStockphoto

UCSF's first Oral Health Alliance Symposium, set for June 11, will focus on oral health disparities and access for children in underserved communities. It will be from 1-5 p.m. at Rock Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay campus.

This interprofessional education symposium is open to primary care providers in medicine, dentistry, and nursing focused on community health, underserved, underrepresented, oral and dental health, children, access of care, and health disparities.

Speakers include Karissa Moreno, MA, chief operations officer, Livingston Community Health; Remya Niranjan, BDS, DDS, dentist with Livingston Community Health and volunteer clinical instructor, UCSF School of Dentistry; Brent Lin, DMD, clinical professor, Division of Pediatric Dentistry and director of the Pre-Doctoral Pediatric Dentistry Program, UCSF School of Dentistry; and Karen Duderstadt, RN, PhD, FAAN, clinical professor, Family Health Care Nursing, UCSF School of Nursing.

Collaborators in the Oral Health Alliance include UCSF Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Native American Health Center, Chabot College Department of Dental Hygiene, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, UCSF School of Medicine and UCSF School of Nursing.

• Download the event flyer
• RSVP for the symposium
• Visit the UCSF Oral Health Alliance website

Medal of Honor recipients Michael Lopez, DDS (far left) and Mark Kirkland, DDS (far right) are joined by students Angie Celis, Jose Carrasco and Laura Aguilar Sanchez. Photo by Elisabeth Fall

Michael J. Lopez, DDS ’74, and Mark Kirkland, DDS ’83, are the 2016 recipients of the Dental Alumni Association’s Medal of Honor. The award is the most prestigious honor the association bestows upon a living alumnus or alumna.

While the awards were first bestowed at the DAA’s luncheon and awards ceremony during UCSF Alumni Weekend in April, Drs. Lopez and Kirkland were in the spotlight again at the 2016 Recognition Banquet on May 20.

Both have been deeply involved in the School of Dentistry and UCSF at large. Dr. Kirkland is a clinical professor of preventive and restorative dental sciences, directs the UCSF International Dentist Program, and is the school’s associate dean for clinical affairs. Dr. Lopez, while in private practice, has coordinated UCSF predoctoral students doing outreach to prospective students in health fields; organized panels of students, alumni and faculty to bridge the gap between education and practice; and initiated a scholarship for undocumented students, or Dreamers (named for the DREAM Act for Undocumented Students) at UCSF, among many other endeavors.

Dr. Lopez has been a trustee for the Hispanic Dental Association, member of the HDA National Faculty Advisor Committee, AAUCSF Executive Board, UCSF Dental Alumni Association Executive Board, Dean's Advisory Board and the Chairman of the Student Relations Committee for the DAA. He was the dedicatee for the UCSF 117th Scientific Session and was the HDA National Practitioner for 2014.

Dr. Kirkland is a dental consultant and chair of the Quality Assurance Committee for On Lok Senior Health Services. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and was a recipient of the UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award. He has served as a member of the Board of Medical Advisors for the Goldman Institute on Aging, the University of California Academic Geriatric Resource Center, and was a reviewer for the Journal of the California Dental Association.

Seventy-nine Medal of Honor awards have been bestowed to UCSF alumni dentists and hygienists since 1981 when the award was established.

Related links:

• UCSF Alumni story
• Recognition Banquet 2016

DAA President LaJuan Hall and faculty member Pam Alston (second and third from left, back row) pose with students at the 2016 Recognition Banquet. Photos by Elisabeth Fall

Students, faculty, alumni and others gathered May 20 for the School of Dentistry’s annual Recognition Banquet, held this year at the Marines' Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco.

The evening kicked off with recognition of the Dental Alumni Association’s Medal of Honor recipients, Mark Kirkland, DDS, and Michael Lopez, DDS. The pair, who formally received their medals at UCSF Alumni Weekend in April, was introduced by LaJuan Hall, DDS, president of the Dental Alumni Association. (Read more on the 2016 Medal of Honor awardees.)

Dr. Hall also presented DAA awards to students from the dental and international dental programs (see list below).

Jane Myung and Leyli Shirvani, presidents of the dental and international dental program classes of 2016, found themselves in the unusual situation of presenting the outstanding peer awards to each other.

Special acknowledgement went to Dorothy Perry, PhD, master of ceremonies for the event. This is the last Recognition Banquet for Dr. Perry, associate dean for education and student affairs, who is retiring in June.

Dental Alumni Association Awards
Alumni Award for Most Motivated Student: Gabriella Orona Bateman
Alumni Award for Professional Development: Ivy Avanessian Fua (Dental Program), Ching-Wen Chang (International Dental Program)
Alumni Award for Clinical Excellence: Emily Horne

Awards Presentation by Graduating Class
Outstanding Peer Award, Dental: Jane Myung
Outstanding Peer Award, IDP: Leyli Shirvani
Staff Recognition, Dental: Akiko Matsumoto
Staff Recognition, IDP: Lakana Zhou
Excellence in Teaching, Dental: Dr. Sophia Saeed
Excellence in Teaching, IDP: Dr. Barry Burstein
Riebe Award for Clinical Teaching, Dental: Dr. Lynn Kiangsoontra
Riebe Award for Clinical Teaching, IDP: Dr. Gurrinder Atwal

Awards for Outstanding Achievement
Academy of Dental Materials Student Award: Roselyn Odsinada Oji
Academy of General Dentistry Senior Student Dental Awards: Danielle Dallal, Tessa Miller
Academy of Operative Dentistry Outstanding Achievement Award: Lillian Franchot Dashiell
Academy of Osseointegration Outstanding Student in Implant Dentistry Award: Jonathan Jelmini
American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry Student Award of Merit: Oleg Semeryuk
American Academy of Implant Dentistry Certificate of Recognition: Jonathan Jelmini
American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology Dental Student Award: Conrad Drinkwater
American Academy of Oral Medicine Certificate of Merit Award: Randy Rosales
American Academy of Orofacial Pain Outstanding Senior Award: Ana Maria Rodriguez
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Outstanding Senior Award: Michael Wang
American Academy of Periodontology Dental Student Achievement Award: Benjamin Halpern
American Association of Endodontists Student Achievement Award: Conrad Drinkwater
American Association of Oral Biologists Oral Biology Award: Molly Hague
American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Dental Student Award: Valentina Zahran
American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Dental Implant Student Award: Kimiko Agari
American Association of Orthodontists Outstanding Student Award: Molly Hague
American Association of Public Health Dentistry Achievement in Community Dentistry & Dental Public Health: Valentina Zahran
American Association of Women Dentists Eleanor J. Bushee Memorial Award: Lillian Franchot Dashiell
American College of Prosthodontics Outstanding Achievement Award: Julia Ma
American Dental Society of Anesthesiology Outstanding Achievement Award: Samuel Clarot
California Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Certificate of Merit: Antonia Moa
California Dental Association Outstanding Senior Award: Valentina Zahran
International Congress of Oral Implantologists Predoctoral Achievement: Johnathan Nobles
Pierre Fauchard Academy Senior Award and Northern California Section Scholarship: Dongkook Lim
Quintessence Award, Clinical Achievement in Periodontics: Antonia Moa
Quintessence Award, Research Achievement: Jacqueline Nguyen
Quintessence Award, Clinical Achievement in Restorative Dentistry: Jenny Qian Zhuang
UCSF Pediatric Dentistry Outstanding Student Award: Ivy Avanessian Fua
Western Society of Periodontology Dental Student Award: Nathan Palanker
Whip Mix Award, Hanau Best of the Best Prosthodontics Award: Oleg Semeryuk

Awards for Extraordinary Achievement
Delta Dental Student Leadership Award: Jane Myung
International College of Dentists Humanitarian Award: Danielle Dallal
International College of Dentists Leadership Award: Nicole LaMantia
Willard C. Fleming Award, Excellence in Patient Service: Tessa Miller
George Hughes Award, Excellence in Prosthodontics: Navjot Kaur Gill
Nguyen T. Nguyen Awards, Achievement in Endodontics: Mahua Bose Pillai and Conrad Drinkwater
Minkin Scholarship Award, Outstanding Scholastic Achievement: Autumn Abadesco
Russell J. Newell Award, Working While in Dental School: Julia Ma
San Francisco Dental Society Ethics & Professionalism Award: Nathan Palanker
Milton and Mary Gabbs Award, Highest Ethical and Professional Behavior: Valentina Zahran
Robert W. Rule Award, Highest Potential to Succeed in the Profession: Jenny Qian Zhuang
Francis A. Sooy Cup, Outstanding Dental Professional: Kimiko Agari

Awards & Scholarships (previously announced)
Derzon Butler Scholars: Yamrot Alemu, Robyn Lett, Irais Lozano, Marilyn Nguyen, Johnathan Nobles, Daniel Ramirez, Maricela Salcedo-Prado, Ngan Tran
Norman Jenssen Scholarship: Emily Horne, Samira Fares
Ted Hall Memorial Scholarship: Lillian Franchot Dashiell
Osher Scholars: Oscar Reyna-Blanco, Valentina Zahran, Jenny Qian Zhuang
Pierre Fauchard Academy Foundation Dental Student Scholarship Award: Nicole LaMantia
Jim & Pam Starr Endowed Scholarship: Ricardo Vargas, Jacob Wood
Clinton P. Ulrich Memorial Scholarship: Lillian Franchot Dashiell
George H. and Nana J. Weyerhauser Scholarship: Kimiko Agari, Emily Horne, Valentina Zahran, Jenny Qian Zhuang
UCSF DAA’s Dean John D.B. Featherstone Scholarship for Community Service: Gabriella Orona Bateman
Robert Rule Awards: Amin Abdallah, Emily Horne, Jenny Qian Zhuang
Donnell Fisher Scholarship: Julia Li
Dr. Thomas and Helen Wu Endowed Scholarship: Evan You
Class of 1961 Scholarship: Ivy Avanessian Fua
Class of 1976 Scholarship: Kimiko Agari
 

Susan Schultz, associate dean for administration and finance with the UCSF School of Dentistry, is leaving UCSF to join the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco.

In her new role as vice president of business operations, Schultz will be responsible for the daily operations of the non-profit institute, coordinating people and resources across six preeminent research institutions nationwide with the goal of curing cancer.

The Parker Institute was created through a $250 million grant from the Parker Foundation, founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sean Parker. The institute brings together UCSF, UCLA, Stanford University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pennsylvania in a collaborative effort to cure cancer through a focus on immunotherapy. Through the Parker Institute, these organizations are unifying their programs, intellectual property licensing, data collection and clinical trials, involving more than 400 labs and 300 researchers and immunologists.

“The Parker Institute’s goal to accelerate the development of immune therapies to treat cancer resonates with me. Helping the field’s top researchers coordinate, collaborate and find new treatments is an opportunity I could not pass up,” Schultz said. “While I’m thrilled to have this opportunity, it will be hard for me to leave UCSF. I am thankful for my colleagues and have always been proud to be a part of the school and campus.”

Schultz has been a part of the UC system for 25 years and with the School of Dentistry for more than 21 years.

"We so appreciate her delightful presence and outstanding leadership here at the School of Dentistry," said John D.B. Featherstone, dean of the School of Dentistry. "She leaves big shoes to fill as a trusted member of my leadership team and a beloved member of our staff. This is a wonderful opportunity for Susan to use her talents in a much broader arena."

Recruiting for the associate dean for administration and finance position will begin immediately. Schultz will maintain a 10 percent appointment with the School of Dentistry to help facilitate the transition. Schultz's last day in her current position will be July 15, and a farewell celebration will be planned.

Discovery is one of the five strategic focus areas of our five-year strategic plan.

Our vision is to be a world leader in scientific discovery and its translation into improved patient care and public health.

Over the next five years, the UCSF School of Dentistry will build on its strength as an established global leader in oral health research.

By promoting interdisciplinary research collaboration within our school, within UCSF and with our external partners, we are identifying novel opportunities to improve human health within our community, nationally and worldwide.

A recent example is a pilot project program developed by Tom Lang, associate dean for research. The program leverages UCSF’s Resource Allocation Program (RAP) grant mechanism and funds two seed grants and a team science award. The seed grants will fund School of Dentistry principal investigators to carry out pilot projects generating preliminary data for NIH R01 grant applications. The team science award will fund cross-disciplinary teams of School of Dentistry investigators working with researchers from other UCSF schools to carry out preliminary research in support of large programmatic research proposals.

Our research focus areas are:

1. Focus our scientific discovery in key areas of high relevance to oral health and dental practice, including cancer, craniofacial biology, biomaterials and bioengineering, tissue regeneration, precision oral health/personalized dentistry with an emphasis on dental caries, and global oral health and health disparities.
2. Provide an outstanding research and discovery infrastructure.
3. Increase research efficiency by leveraging universitywide resources, including CTSI and the research cores.
4. Enhance funding of our discovery efforts through schoolwide mentoring for grant submissions and pilot projects to encourage collaboration for new research directions.
5. Broaden the public impact of our work through technology transfer and industry collaboration.
6. Advance health worldwide and reduce health disparities by identifying, creating and sustaining research collaborations with community partners on the local, regional, national and international levels.

In executing the above, we will increase our recognition as a research center of excellence and a hub for discussions on global health.

As always, we will encourage and reward individual creativity and achievement while recognizing that individual success is fostered by the success of our community as a whole.

Look for more information about our strategic plan next month, when we will discuss the importance of our people.

Related links:
UCSF School of Dentistry Strategic Plan

John Greenspan, BSC, BDS, PhD, FRCPath, ScD [hc], FDSRCS [Eng], will step down as director of the Orofacial Sciences Parnassus Campus Biospecimen Bank, effective July 1, 2016.

This facility incorporates the UCSF AIDS Specimen Bank (ASB) that Dr. Greenspan founded in December 1982. The OFS Biospecimen Bank, located in new facilities on the Parnassus campus, provides biospecimen processing and repository services to numerous AIDS and non-AIDS research groups such as CFAR, the ARI, Clinical Pharmacy, Rheumatology, Ophthalmology, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and the Osher Center, as well as the nine-country Sjogren’s International Clinical Collaborative Alliance (SICCA).

Dr. Greenspan led the biospecimen bank for more than three decades. His service to UCSF includes the Oral AIDS Center (founder and director 1985-2003), the AIDS Clinical Research Center (director 1992-2005) and the AIDS Research Institute (2003-2012), as well as in SICCA, which he established with Dr. Troy Daniels in 2003.

Richard Jordan, DDS, PhD, FRCPath, will succeed Dr. Greenspan as the bank's director. He is a professor of oral pathology, pathology and radiation oncology at UCSF and currently serves as director of the nationwide NRG Oncology Biospecimen Bank. A recognized national leader in biospecimen banking, Dr. Jordan is a member and current vice chair of the NCI-Group Banking Committee. He brings to the bank more than two decades of biobanking expertise that will lead to further operational enhancements for the program. Yvonne De Souza will continue as co-director, and Dr. Greenspan will be a consultant to the biospecimen bank.

For information on the bank and how to access its services, visit cfar.ucsf.edu/cores/aids-specimen-bank or contact DeSouza at yvonne.desouza@ucsf.edu or 415.476.2513.

Kyle Morton (left) of DENTSPLY, Dean John D.B. Featherstone, Wendy Fu and Elaine Emmerson of Dr. Sarah Knox's lab

Second-year dental student Wendy Fu will represent UCSF in the ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Program during the 56th annual American Dental Association annual session, Oct. 21-22 in Denver.

Fu will present “Sympathetic innervation stimulates salivary gland differentiation.” Her mentor is saliva researcher Sarah Knox, PhD.

Fu, who is president of UCSF Dentistry’s John C. Greene Society, won third place in the 2016 DENTSPLY/Caulk Student Research Group competition.

The ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Program invites each dental school in the United States and Puerto Rico to select a student representative for the research poster competition held during the ADA annual session.