The School of Dentistry's 2016 commencement ceremony, celebrating DDS and master of dental hygiene graduates, was June 9 at Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco. The commencement address was given by Jack Dillenberg, DDS, MPH, dean of the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences.
Take a look at some of the sights of the day from social media, via Storify:
Petri Gordon enjoys a treat at last year's staff ice cream social.
The UCSF School of Dentistry’s Staff Work Life Committee plans events throughout the year to enrich the lives of all staff — and you are wanted as a team member! Recent popular events hosted by the committee include chair massages, a career workshop, hot dog lunch, and ice cream social.
| All staff are invited to attend the next Staff Work Life Committee meeting, on Monday, July 18, to discuss upcoming events and opportunities. The meeting will take place in D2009. Contact one of the committee co-chairs (see main story) for more information. |
“The committee is a great way to get involved in the school and coordinate events that make our work lives better,” said Lauren Haworth, committee co-chair.
According to Susan Schultz, associate dean for administration and finance, “Our goals with this committee are to provide activities that staff want, provide experiences to be a part of a committee and even to chair a committee, and to have a role in improving the culture for staff at the school.”
The Health and Wellness, Celebration/Recognition and Training and Development subcommittees, which used to meet separately, now are combining their efforts and meeting together to better support one another and strengthen all areas.
A big thank-you to all the staff who have helped out at this past year’s Staff Work Life Committee events!
For more information, please contact one of the committee’s co-chairs: Lauren Haworth, co-chair, Health and Wellness; Jewel Smally, co-chair, Training and Development; or Pearl Zulueta, co-chair, Celebration/Recognition.
Do you have a hard time remembering the School of Dentistry’s values? Here’s an easy way to remember: The first letters of all the values form the word LEADERSHIP!
Leadership: We enthusiastically guide and support people at all levels to achieve their greatest potential; our people are our greatest asset.
Excellence: We strive for excellence in everything we do.
Accountability: We accept responsibility as individuals and as a community for our decisions and actions.
Diversity: We embrace diversity and inclusion as a path to innovation, learning, mutual respect and excellence.
Engagement: We are most successful when people actively participate at all levels and know their ideas are valued.
Respect: We respect the ideas, opinions, rights and dignity of all students, faculty, staff, patients, colleagues and community partners.
Social responsibility: We improve quality of life, invest in the communities we serve and advocate for underserved populations.
Honesty: We perform to the highest standards of integrity, ethics, fairness and professionalism in our daily actions and interactions.
Innovation: We encourage creativity, embrace new challenges and actively seek out opportunities to advance our field.
Partnership: We collaborate in a transparent, supportive manner to share information, resources and ideas to achieve shared goals.
The next time you have a hard time remembering our values, think LEADERSHIP!
For more about the school’s values, visit the Strategic Plan section of the school’s website.
Pictured: Back row, from left: Ricardo Vargas, Daniel Ramirez, Omid Ebrahimi. Center row, from left: Dr. Dorothy Perry, Jane Myung, Oleg Semeryuk, Dr. Peggy Leong. Front row, from left: Prena Vijan, Lillian Dashiell, Farah Yasmeen, Julia Ma, Mojgan Mehranfard.
Twelve members of the School of Dentistry's newly-graduated Class of 2016 successfully completed the portfolio examination pathway. This immediately licenses these graduates to practice dentistry in California.
The portfolio examination pathway was launched as a pilot project for the Class of 2015, and was formally incorporated as part of the curriculum for 2015-16 and beyond. It is an alternative pathway for initial licensure for general dentists in the state. It has been developed in close collaboration with the California Dental Board and all of the dental schools in California.
Students who successfully completed the exam include Ching-Wen Chang, Lillian Dashiell, Omid Ebrahimi, Julia Ma, Mojgan Mehranfard, Jane Myung, Daniel Ramirez, Oleg Semeryuk, Ricardo Vargas, Prena Vijan, Werner Visage and Farah Yasmeen.
Photo by Elisabeth Fall
The International Dentist Program (IDP) Class of 2018 started classes on June 13. The class of 28 hails from around the globe; all have earned dental degrees in their home countries. The two-year program culminates in a DDS degree.
The UCSF School of Dentistry welcomes the class, whose students include:
| Mais Al Dahan | Sneha Vijay Kherde |
| Tahani Asaad Al-mashta | Hak Kyun Kim |
| Sameer Bajaj | Yoona Lee |
| Anamica Batra | Roza Poghosyan |
| Bishoy Joseph Besada | Arash Safvati |
| Pragya Chawla | Shaiba Sandhu |
| Mengxia Chen | Priyanka Saxena |
| Sonali Chhabra | Shraddha Sherchan |
| Sumayia Elnur | Oluwatosin Mercy Tokede |
| Roshni Gehlot | Chung Thuy Thi Truong |
| Gagneet Grewal | Efrain Jose Vargas |
| Konstantin Iakushev Howard | Geetanpreet Virdi |
| Sakshi Kapoor | Dan Wu |
| Jeel Murjibhai Kesaria | Nan Xiang |
Oral Health Symposium attendees include Emily Yang, left, Helen Vilchez, Jenny Garcia, Dien Sun, Brian Lee and Kathleen Marcelo.
UCSF's first Oral Health Alliance Symposium brought together scholars and students across multiple disciplines to address issues of dental primary care, oral health disparities and increasing access to care for children in underserved communities.
Symposium speakers Sheila Brear, left, Karen Duderstadt, Karissa Moreno, Remya Niranjan, Brent Lin
The June 11 symposium featured presentations from the dentistry, nursing and community health disciplines on the theme of “Interprofessional Education on Children’s Oral Health for Primary Care Providers.”
Speakers included Sheila Brear, BDS, associate dean for academic affairs, UCSF School of Dentistry; Karen Duderstadt, RN, PhD, FAAN, clinical professor, family health care nursing in the UCSF School of Nursing; Brent Lin, DMD, clinical professor and director of the predoctoral pediatric dentistry program in the School of Dentistry; Karissa Moreno, MA, chief operations officer, Livingston Community Health; and Remya Niranjan, BDS, DDS, dentist with Livingston Community Health and volunteer clinical instructor in the School of Dentistry.
The event, held at Mission Bay's Rock Hall Auditorium, also included presentations by "College Day" speakers Emily Yang, Helen Vilchez, Jenny Garcia, Dien Sun, Brian Lee and Kathleen Marcelo.
The UCSF Oral Health Alliance is committed to improving oral health and reducing oral health disparity among children in underprivileged communities within the San Francisco Bay Area.
Related links:
Nathan Young, PhD
Oral and Craniofacial Sciences faculty member Nathan Young, PhD, will be the new director of the OCS master's program, starting July 1.
Dr. Young has been an assistant adjunct professor in the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery since 2013. He obtained his PhD in biological anthropology from Harvard University in 2003. He completed postdoctoral training in cell biology and anatomy at the University of Calgary, plastic surgery at Stanford University, and orthopaedic surgery at UCSF.
Dr. Young is an established expert in the quantification and analysis of shape, and has active research projects focused on craniofacial development. He is particularly engaged in the use of advanced imaging techniques such as CBCT and 3-D photography to better understand both what makes individual faces different and predict how a child's face will grow. He has a number of publications that focus on the intersection of human evolution and variation and disease, including characterizing the earliest timepoints when individual facial shape is established and how structural birth defects occur.
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead the OCS MS program, and look forward to helping guide the program into the future," Dr. Young said. He is particularly focused on helping master's students enhance funding opportunities for their research, establish better statistical resources, and ensure protected time so that residents can produce the highest quality research UCSF is known for.
Dr. Deborah Greenspan dons the green hat and sword bestowed upon her with an honorary degree from the Univesity of Helsinki.
Deborah Greenspan BDS, DSc, recently received an honorary degree, Doctor of Medicine and Surgery, from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Helsinki. The pomp and circumstance of the degree also included some unusual accoutrements.
Dr. Greenspan — professor emerita of oral medicine in the Department of Orofacial Sciences in the School of Dentistry at UCSF, founding chair of that department, former chair of the UCSF Academic Senate and past president of the International Association for Dental Research — was one of nine scientists and the only dentist among a group of physicians from around the globe to receive the honorary doctorates, which the faculty awards once a decade. She was recognized for her leadership in oral and craniofacial research, her pioneering work on oral aspects of the AIDS pandemic and for her many other contributions to oral infectious disease science.
The University of Helsinki is among the world’s outstanding research-intensive universities.
“I am so deeply honored to be recognized this way,” said Dr. Greenspan. “The ceremony and associated activities were impressive and moving, with so many firsts for me.” She holds other honorary degrees and fellowships for her work, notably FDSRCS of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, DSc (hc) from King’s College London, ScD (hc) from Georgetown University and DDS (hc) from Sheffield University.
The three-day event, including the formal five-hour ceremony, took place in early June. The honorees were introduced in their own language and were presented with a ceremonial sword with the University of Helsinki’s insignia, a hat covered in dark green silk, and a diploma. The university has awarded the swords, hats and diplomas to honorary doctors since its founding in Turku in 1640. The sword represents knowledge, while the hat represents truth.
Following the ceremony, several hundred new degree recipients, Jubilee graduates (celebrating 50 years since graduation) and faculty members followed a red-carpeted path through the nearby city main square to the country’s national church, the Helsinki Cathedral, where there was a solemn service. They then processed back to the university campus, passing crowds of people along the streets. A formal banquet and dance followed.
Dean Featherstone's July 2016 column
It costs upwards of $200,000 — tuition, fees and supplies — to earn a DDS degree here at UCSF.
While we compare favorably against dental schools at private universities — costing less than half of what some institutions charge — that’s still a substantial sum, and many of our students need financial support in meeting it. Often students take out loans to cover that cost, adding a major burden for those going into private practice or, especially, academia.
One of my passions is finding ways of funding more substantial scholarships, and more of them, for our students. I know the importance of scholarship support: That’s how I got my education. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for scholarships.
Thus, a big part of what I do as dean of the School of Dentistry is raise money for scholarships, together with the Office of Development and with Alumni Relations. (I give as well.)
Unlike some of our counterpart schools, we don’t have the luxury of offering full-ride support. But we do provide a number of scholarships that cover a significant portion of the cost of attending here. Among them are:
A number of smaller scholarships are supported by graduating classes. The class of 1991, for example, just established its endowment; it’s aiming for $250,000. The class of 1961 reached its goal of $50,000 for its 50-year reunion.
Several of our individual alumni give enough annually to effectively subsidize a one-year scholarship. Many alumni who were fortunate to attend UCSF years ago, when tuition was a few thousand dollars, are shocked to hear what it is today — and many in turn are moved to donate. Faculty also have been quite generous in providing scholarship support.
I would love to have an endowment of, say, $40 million, from which to draw upon in perpetuity. The $220,000 figure above doesn’t include living expenses, which, as you know, are steep and have become more problematic over the last 10 years or so. And reductions in state funding — especially during the Great Recession — put pressure on us to raise tuition and fees. The good news is, tuition has been relatively stable the last five years or so.
So as the School of Dentistry continues to attract the very best applicants, we work to provide them with as much financial assistance as we can.
Related links:
Find out more about financial support for students
Left image: Dr. Mark Kirkland (left), Ulrich Memorial Award recipient Jin Wan Kim and Dean John D.B. Featherstone. Center image: Hu-Friedy representative Mark Ziemkowski (left), Jenny Huang, Dr. Kirkland. Right image: Dr. Kirkland, Pragya Chawla, Mark Ziemkowski. Credit: Elisabeth Fall
Three students were awarded scholarships at the annual Clinic Induction Ceremony on June 29. The ceremony marks the signing of the clinic induction pledge by third-year students and their transition to clinic practice.
The Clinton P. Ulrich Memorial Award, in memory of dental student Clint Ulrich (class of 2001), was awarded to Jin Wan Kim. The award recognizes D1/D2 academic performance, leadership, research and involvement in community service.
Hu-Friedy Dental Instrument Scholarships were awarded to Jenny Huang (D3) and Pragya Chawla (IDP3). The instrument awards recognize academic performance.
A number of School of Dentistry faculty and students made the trek last month to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the International Association of Dental Research General Session.
Four students — D4s Yoomin Ahn and Danielle Jaul, and DDS/PhDs Shaun Abrams and Rebecca Kim — received travel bloc grants to attend the June 22–25 conference.
Highlights of the event included two competition awards for our students.
Jaul won first place in the Craniofacial Biology Group competition, a Junior Category (preferably MS and dental students, residents in certificate programs) that recognizes original and outstanding research on craniofacial growth and development. The award includes $300 and an engraved plaque. The competition is supported by DENTAID and the membership of the Craniofacial Biology Group.
"I enjoyed the opportunity to present my research, and it was an honor to be amongst many forward thinkers in dentistry and orthodontics," Jaul said. "The best part of any conference is learning new science to incorporate in evidence-based practice."
Mychi Nguyen
D4 student Mychi Nguyen won second place in the IADR Unilever Hatton Award competition, also at the general session. After winning first place in the national Hatton competition held in Los Angeles in March, Nguyen was one of two students selected to represent the American Division of the IADR in the Junior category of the international competition. The IADR Unilever Hatton Competition and Awards is designed to provide an opportunity for the best junior investigators from all IADR divisions and sections to present their research at the annual general session.
“I'm extremely honored to have been a part of this competition and given the opportunity to showcase my research internationally," Nguyen said. She credited her mentors, Dr. Stefan Habelitz and Dr. Karina Carneiro, for invaluable support. Nguyen's project started within the Summer Dental Student Research Fellowship Program.
The CAMBRA protocol can help dentists tailor treatment to help prevent dental caries, or cavities.
By Leigh Beeson
Taking patients’ risk of developing dental caries (“cavities”) into account can help dentists effectively tailor individual prevention and treatment efforts, according to a recent study led by researchers from UC San Francisco's School of Dentistry.
The study, published online and in the July 2016 print issue of JDR Clinical & Translational Research, a new offshoot of the Journal of Dental Research, focused on how providers implemented a UCSF-developed protocol known as CAMBRA (Caries Management by Risk Assessment), which combines risk assessment with personalized preventive care and regular monitoring, and how risk assessments affected their patients’ courses of treatment and oral health.
A baseline sample of 3,810 pediatric dentistry patients at UCSF was assessed using a 17-item form that records multiple environmental and behavioral factors known to contribute to caries, such as the patient’s access to fluoridated water, frequency of snacking, and socioeconomic status. Then the predictive value of these risk assessments was evaluated in a follow-up group of 1,315 patients from 6 months to 6 years old from a largely low-income, urban population.
The research group found that dental care providers’ risk assignments were correlated with the risk of future decay, said study author Benjamin Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD, assistant professor and director of the Global Oral Health program at the UCSF School of Dentistry. At the follow-up visits, only about 20 percent of the low-risk patients presented with tooth decay, but nearly 70 percent of those in the high-risk group had decay.
By Laura Kurtzman
Zika virus can infect numerous cell types in the human placenta and amniotic sac, according to researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley who show in a new paper how the virus travels from a pregnant woman to her fetus. They also identify a drug that may be able to block it.
The virus has two potential routes to the developing fetus: a placental route established in the first trimester, and a route across the amniotic sac that only becomes available in the second trimester, according to the study, published Monday, July 18 in Cell Host & Microbe. The study of human tissue in the laboratory found that an older generation antibiotic called duramycin blocked the virus from replicating in cells that are thought to transmit it along both routes.
“Very few viruses reach the fetus during pregnancy and cause birth defects,” said Lenore Pereira, PhD, a virologist and professor of cell and tissue biology in the UCSF School of Dentistry. “Understanding how some viruses are able to do this is a very significant question and may be the most essential question for thinking about ways to protect the fetus when the mother gets infected.”
Read the complete story at UCSF.edu.
Related links:
Zika paper in Cell Host & Microbe
New York Times: Confronting a Lingering Question About Zika: How It Enters the Womb
As we look at the five focus areas of our five-year strategic plan, the spotlight this month shines on people.
In order to attract and retain the best faculty, staff, students and trainees, we strive to create and maintain a supportive work and learning environment. The school has identified five key concentrations:
Through these concentrations, our strategic plan provides a blue print for making our people feel valued, appreciated and engaged.
Look for more information about our strategic plan next month, when we will discuss our business objectives.
Related link:
UCSF School of Dentistry Strategic Plan
Associated Press photo
Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry often chews on his mouthguard during a break in the action.
By Terri Hunter-Davis
Even if you’re not a basketball fan, chances are you’ve seen Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry absently gnawing on a U-shaped bit of plastic.
Curry’s mouthguard is perhaps the best known in all of sports, but his is hardly the only one. From the major leagues to youth soccer to next month’s Olympic Games, you’ll find both professional and amateur athletes taking this simple step to protect their teeth. But it’s a measure casual participants should take too.
“I recommend using a mouthguard in any sport where there’s risk of impact — basketball, football, martial arts,” to name a few, says Dr. Sara Hahn, a prosthodontist who teaches in the UCSF School of Dentistry’s predoctoral clinic. They can help prevent such mouth injuries as broken teeth, cuts on the lips or tongue, and jaw injuries.
But other common sports also are risky.
“I advise cyclists to wear protection as well,” Hahn says. “In cycling accidents, you’re likely to fly headfirst over the handlebars,” and the face — including the mouth — may take the brunt of the damage.
Weightlifting also can pose a hazard — but not just from contact with a barbell.
“When you’re really bearing down, you can put an excessive amount of force [on the teeth] by clenching really hard,” she explains. A weakened tooth — such as one with a large filling — could crack under that pressure.
An inexpensive mouthguard from a sporting goods or drug store can provide the proverbial ounce of prevention. Firm, preformed guards are available, as are softer “boil-and-bite” options that conform to one’s mouth. Hahn cautions users to take care in fitting the latter.
“If you don’t cover all the teeth properly, you can change your bite — permanently,” she warns.
Dr. Kjeld Aamodt, a UCSF orthodontist, concurs, but says it’s more of a risk when worn for bruxism, or grinding. He agrees that mouth protection is a must, including if one wears braces.
“It’s advisable to wear a soft mouthguard over braces while engaged in sports that have the potential for impact to the face and teeth,” Aamodt says. He notes that there are mouthguards designed specifically for use with traditional braces. Clear aligners, such as Invisalign, also can act as a functional mouthguard.
Facial trauma can be made both better and worse by traditional braces.
“Braces actually may stabilize the teeth and reduce the likelihood that they’re knocked out by trauma,” he explains. On the other hand, “One’s lips experience more of the injury than without braces.”
Finally, when the braces or aligners have been removed, don’t forget to continue using a mouthguard to protect your smile.
Dean Featherstone's August 2016 column
The essential mission of supporting our faculty is manifold, but one of the most important aspects — for both faculty and for the school — is financial. Creating endowed professorships is a priority for us in order to retain and recruit faculty.
Twenty years ago, we didn’t have any. Today the School of Dentistry has 14 and is in the process of adding more, to better support more — and perhaps, one day, all — of our faculty.
When donors approach us with the wish to fund a professorship, we try to set up the gift in as unrestricted a manner as possible, regarding specifics of research. This way, we can use these to facilitate recruitment, by appealing to a broader audience. Faculty can use the resources for lab support, research or whatever way is most useful.
In addition to our individual benefactors, we also have been able to take advantage of matching funds from the UC Office of the President for a prestigious Presidential Chair — in this instance, the Dr. Arnold and Dianne Gazarian Presidential Chair.
The fact is, faculty often are being recruited elsewhere. It’s our hope that these opportunities will help keep our talented faculty right here. Conversely, these opportunities also are a useful recruiting tool to attract new faculty.
We also recognize that many of our most generous donors are themselves faculty, current and emeriti. We truly are grateful for their generosity.
Here are our endowed professorships:
iStock
By Alec Rosenberg, UC Newsroom
To floss or not to floss, that is suddenly the question.
For decades, the federal government and dentists have recommended flossing daily to prevent cavities and gum disease.
Now the evidence for flossing appears to be hanging by a string.
The Associated Press announced this week that its investigation of 25 studies on flossing found the data supporting its benefits to be “weak, very unreliable,” while also noting that the federal government’s new dietary guidelines have quietly removed any mention of flossing.
If you’re smiling about the news – a recent study found that nearly one-third of American adults never floss – hold on.
Should you still floss? Yes, say experts from the University of California’s two dental schools, including Dr. Mark Ryder of the UCSF School of Dentistry.
One of Dr. James Giblin's favorite hobbies is creating gourmet pizzas, baked in his wood-fired oven. Courtesy of Dr. James Giblin
This is the first in a series of profiles of School of Dentistry faculty who have been singularly influential on their students.
Name: James Giblin, DDS ’85
Department: Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences
Joined faculty: 1986
Dr. James Giblin
Dr. James Giblin was just a year out of the School of Dentistry when — on somewhat of a whim, he says — he came back to teach.
“Dr. Tueller [Vern Tueller, DDS] asked me to fill in for six months” to cover a sabbatical, Giblin said. “Six months turned into 30 years.
“I didn’t plan on that, but I fell in love with it.”
That’s not to say Giblin doesn’t enjoy his private practice in Danville. But his 50-percent appointment in Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences offers him a gratifying hands-on experience.
“My approach is to bring my 30 years of dentistry, my best clinical perspective, to the students on the clinic floor,” Giblin said.
Over the years, while his philosophy has remained consistent, Giblin’s outlook has evolved.
“I’m probably more understanding now,” Giblin mused. “I realize each student doesn’t necessarily fit a particular mold of learning,” and he’s tailored his teaching to better help them.
“I guide the students, but it’s their hard work that gets them through,” he said. Indeed, one thing Giblin hopes he’s instilled in his students is a strong work ethic.
“That’s one of the keys to success,” he stressed.
A number of his students have found success not only in the clinic, but — like Giblin — also in academia. “At this point, many of the faculty are students I’ve taught. I don’t consider myself an old-timer,” he chuckled, “but I guess I am.”
Enduring might be more accurate, and applicable to Giblin’s personal pursuits as well. He has run the Boston Marathon, and won his age division in the Tahoe Marathon. He’s also an avid gardener and enjoys cooking in his outdoor kitchen, especially baking gourmet pizzas in his wood-fired oven.
But also satisfying is the feedback Giblin gets as an instructor. “Seeing past students, hearing them say, ‘I still remember your class’ — that make me want to do what I do.”
— Terri Hunter-Davis
L-R: Dr. Benjamin Chaffee, Irene Ching, Jungsoo Kim, Madhurima Ganguly, Corissa Chang, Ana Navarro Palacios, Hailey Taylor, Pingting Zhao, Dr. George Taylor. Fellows not pictured: Jean Calvo and Siyouneh Novshadian.
UCSF Dentistry’s Global Oral Health Program has announced that six dental students will receive Global Oral Health research fellowships for 2016-17. The program also will award one Global Oral Health Community Partnership award. This new one-year fellowship is designed to support a team of one or more dental students working in collaboration with at least one clinical faculty member and a local community partner. The fellowship provides support for the project and can be used by the faculty mentor to pursue career development training in clinical research methods.
"The current group of Global Oral Health fellows is pursuing exemplary scholarship over a diverse range of projects, said Benjamin Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD, director of Global Oral Health in the School of Dentistry. "I am tremendously impressed by the creativity and ambition in their research projects and by the top-notch support from an outstanding team of mentors. The fellows are great ambassadors of the UCSF School of Dentistry in the local community and around the world."
The Global Oral Health research fellowship program provides research and travel support to UCSF dental students and residents undertaking original research projects with a global oral health focus. Fellows are chosen based on faculty review of their research proposals. The mentored projects of the current fellows — taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nepal, China, Taiwan, Ghana and Peru — range from community program evaluation, to epidemiology, to qualitative research. Fellows are tackling such oral conditions as tooth loss, caries and malocclusion.
"Our study investigates the correlation between diet and the prevalence of malocclusions, specifically crowding, in an indigenous population in Taquile Island, Peru," reported Ana Navarro Palacios, IDP '17. "Our research group had already established a relationship with the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Dental School. As a team, we worked together with our Peruvian colleagues to screen students from the school's island Colegio Artesanal de Taquile. Traveling to this island was a fascinating experience, definitely once in a lifetime. We are currently analyzing the data."
Second-year dental student Corissa Chang will travel to Taiwan over the winter break “to interview local taxi drivers on their knowledge and usage of the areca betel nut, in order to better understand 'why chewers chew.'
"I am truly humbled to be given the opportunity to conduct research abroad in a foreign country through the Global Oral Health Fellowship,” she said.
The UCSF Program in Global Oral Health aims to strengthen and coordinate the activities in global oral health within the UCSF School of Dentistry, and to develop and support programs that allow trainees and faculty to achieve excellence in global health education, research, and community and public service.
The 2016-17 fellows and mentors are:
Corissa Chang | Dr. Brent Lin
Pingting Zhao | Dr. Brent Lin
Ana Navarro Palacios | Dr. Kjeld Aamodt
Siyouneh Novshadian | Dr. Kjeld Aamodt and Dr. Michael McMaster
Madhurima Ganguly | Dr. Karen Sokol-Gutierrez
Hailey Taylor | Dr. Benjamin Chaffee and Dr. Jeremy Horst
Global Oral Health Community Partnership fellows: Irene Ching, Jean Calvo, Jungsoo Kim | Mentor: Dr. George Taylor
Larisa Kure
Larisa Kure has been named associate dean for administration and finance in the School of Dentistry, effective Sept. 12.
"I am very excited about Larisa’s appointment, and look forward to working closely with her," said John D.B. Featherstone, dean of the School of Dentistry. "Larisa was the successful candidate as a result of a search for a successor to Susan Schultz that brought several excellent applicants to the table."
Kure joined UCSF in October 2000 as a research administrator in the Department of Medicine. She assumed broader administrative duties at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, ultimately taking over as department manager for two departments: Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine (2006) and Cell and Tissue Biology in the School of Dentistry (2012). She holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Trinity College and a master’s degree in public administration from The George Washington University.
Kure has been active on numerous committees, including advisory boards, funding committees and the Committee on the Status of Women. In recognition of her contributions, she received the Chancellor Award for Exceptional University Management in 2015.
Many thanks are extended to Lauren Haworth for capably filling the associate dean position on an interim basis, and to Susan Schultz and the search committee chaired by Mary Beth Blasnek, whose dedicated efforts resulted in an outstanding recruitment process and result.