Dean John D.B. Featherstone (left), Joe Ursino, Dr. Ophir Klein and Paul Lapachet display the Native Sons of the Golden West donation to the UCSF Craniofacial center at their annual luncheon.

The “big” check was missing this year. But no one seemed to mind.

For 63 years, the giving arm of Native Sons of the Golden West has generously supported craniofacial treatment and research — for the last 35, under the umbrella of the UCSF Craniofacial Center. The donations have been marked with a luncheon and presentation of a large check, one several feet long.  But at yesterday’s luncheon on the Mission Bay campus, the ceremonial version was nowhere to be seen.

“No ‘big’ check, but the amount is big,” quipped John D.B. Featherstone, MSc, PhD, dean of the School of Dentistry. Indeed: The fraternal organization matched last year’s donation with an $85,000 gift. These funds traditionally have been used to cover the costs of services to patients not covered by insurance.

“Of course, we wish we could give more,” said Paul Lapachet, grand president of the Native Sons and a UCSF employee. The Native Sons’ generosity has been impressive: The group has given nearly $3.4 million since 1953, when they first gave $500 to the then-Cleft Palate Clinic at UCSF.

The annual luncheon also featured a video highlighting the Craniofacial Center’s work. The center is able to provide orthodontic, prosthodontic, neuropsychological, genetic testing, social work and support care to its low-income patients, who may not be able to afford these services if they are not covered by insurance, through the generosity of the Native Sons, said medical director Ophir Klein, MD, PhD.

Building on collaboration with UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Dr. Klein said, “we hope to increase our interaction with Children’s Hospital Oakland,” reaching more patients in need.

Thanks to the Native Sons’ generosity, that hope may become reality.

The Bioengineering and Biomaterials High Resolution Correlative Imaging Facility recently has acquired a Sigma 500 scanning electron microscope. The instrument is a variable pressure system, with scanning electron, scanning transmission, and back scattered electron imaging modes.

Sigma 500 allows users to examine biological specimens without coating a conductive layer. Specimen preparation is straightforward and the variable pressure mode of the system allows non-invasive/less destructive imaging. The use of backscattered electrons helps differentiate components consisting of higher and lower atomic masses, and provides insights into elemental information within tissues.

In addition to the scanning mode, Sigma 500's transmission mode allows users to acquire images like a traditional transmission electron microscope (TEM). That is, internal structures of specimens prepared to image using TEM also can be revealed by STEM mode on the Sigma 500. While traditional TEM usually holds one grid, the STEM sample holder accommodates 12 grids and facilitates high throughput. The sample navigation facilitated by a camera will identify the region of interest for correlative imaging, using light and electron microscopy techniques on the same specimen. This system facilitates high throughputs and enables multi-length scale correlation of data sets acquired from light and X-ray microscopy techniques.

The multiple length-scale correlation between cells, tissues and organs using this electron microscope is key to gaining insights into pathologies, and subsequently can lead to novel clinical interventions.

The Bioengineering and Biomaterials High Resolution Correlative Imaging Facility is directed by Dr. Sunita Ho and maanged by Dr. Ling Chen. The instrument is housed on the eighth floor of Health Science West, 513 Parnassus Ave. and is open to all investigators at UCSF ($75/hour) and community at large through recharge. 

Related link:
Zeiss Sigma series

Julia Hwang has been named the School of Dentistry’s director of admissions and outreach. She starts on Nov. 16.

Hwang comes from UC Berkeley’s Walter A. Haas School of Business, where she has been the assistant dean of the MBA Career Management Group since 2012. Prior to this, she served as executive director of the MBA Program at Haas.

Previously Hwang held several positions at New York University, including assistant dean for MBA admissions, where she oversaw the full cycle of admissions from marketing to application processing to yield. Her background includes outreach, training, student affairs, financial aid, budget management and supervising staff.

She succeeds James Betbeze, who retired in June 2016.

Hwang will report to Peter Sargent, interim associate dean for education and student affairs. Her responsibilities will include processing the admission of applicants for the predoctoral, postgraduate and international dentist programs; management of the post-baccalaureate program; and coordinating recruitment and outreach activities.

Last summer, a media team from the American College of Prosthodontists recorded patients and specialists from the UCSF School of Dentistry for a video project.  That project is now complete, and the edited videos are on the ACP YouTube channel.

Prosthodontists Arun Sharma, BDS, MSc, and Donald Curtis, DMD, FACP, and several of their patients are featured. The videos focus on new clinical practice guidelines that help patients and practitioners keep dental restorations in good condition; Dr. Curtis was instrumental in formulating and testing the new guidelines.

American College of Prosthodontists video

More videos:

• Patient Rachel asks a Prosthodontist: Can a cleft palate be fixed?
• Patient Lois asks a Prosthodontist: What dentist does implants when dental crowns fall out?
• Patient Julie asks a Prosthodontist: What do Crowns and Bridges Look Like?
• How long do crowns, veneers, bridges last? Clinical Practice Guidelines Avoid Do-Overs (featuring Dr. Donald Curtis)

Related links:

• Video Shoot Highlights Prosthodontics
• New Guidelines Set Standard for Restoration Care
• GoToAPro.org (patient and consumer information)
• Prosthodontics.org (information for oral health professionals)

UCSF Dental Center patients, referrers and providers now have an efficient, user-friendly way to find out about clinics, services and more: the new UCSFDentalCenter.org website.

Several months in the making, the new site — built by web design firm Kalamuna — provides users a clear path to finding the right clinic, a specific dental professional, payment and appointment information, and more.

One new feature is the “find a provider” function, by which users can filter our 20 clinics by specialty, type of provider, or other criteria. Users also will be able to find out what conditions dentists specialize in, or select a clinic by location.

The site also allows us to make the case for UCSF Dental Center’s clinical excellence, built on our world-renowned research. And testimonials are featured, giving patients a platform to share their satisfaction with their treatment.

Clinic personnel will be able to update hours and edit other information on their clinic pages.

The patient services section of the school website now redirects to the new site.

Third-year students on the 'Do You Even Floss, Bro?' team (dark jerseys) guard against second-year opponents 'Struck by Whitening' (white jerseys) in UCSF's intramural/recreation basketball league. Photos by Terri Hunter-Davis

By Andy Evangelista

Students are proving that dentists can walk and tout gum health at the same time.

Take “Do You Even Floss, Bro?” It’s a basketball team of third-year UCSF dental students. They’re quite athletic, filling (the lane) and drilling (jump shots) every Tuesday night. And while their team name may hint of edginess, they really are good sports on the court and cordial in the clinic.

The team plays in the campus’ intramural/recreation league, along with three other School of Dentistry teams and squads from other UCSF schools. Going into the fall season, Do You Even Floss, Bro? has bragging rights in the dental school – and now, perhaps, a friendly target on their backs. They won the summer league, their first championship since they formed the team during their first weeks at UCSF.

In the playoff semifinals last summer, they rolled over a very talented second-year dental team, “Struck by Whitening,” and in the championship game, they upset a fourth-year team and perennial league contender, “K. Air Force.”

“We struggled a lot during our first two years as a team. It took us a couple quarters before we got our first victory on the court,” said third-year student Ramsen Warda. “Since then, we have been growing as friends and teammates and understand each other. We had previously lost to the upperclassmen by buzzer-beating shots, and had never beaten them before. It meant a lot to us to win that championship game. We were down by more than 10 points, and somehow we came back to beat them.”

Games are intense at times. “But it’s mostly healthy competition, and it’s fun seeing each other and having a competitive relationship,” said Tiffany Cheung, the team’s sharp shooting guard.

“I love playing the other School of Dentistry teams the most,” said third-year student Samuel Russom, a center and power forward. “I like a little trash talk between friends. But I have made friends with students from other schools through the league.”

Does basketball camaraderie translate to the classroom and clinic?

“I think it’s the other way around for our team,” said Cheung. “We’ve always been a tight class, and that support translates over to basketball.”

Teammate Russom agrees. “From day one, our class has supported each other in academics and now in the clinic,” he said. “We were a team before we stepped on a court.”

With an increased course and clinic load in their third year, how will they find the time to defend their basketball title?

“I don’t play or practice much anymore,” said Cheung. “I do show up exhausted sometimes, but there’s a delight in perseverance and being part of a team. So far, it’s one to two nights a week and sometimes basketball does clash with other responsibilities, but I love playing so much, I’ll usually make time for it.”

“School is so stressful at times. If I didn’t have basketball every week to take my mind off things, I wouldn’t be my cheerful self,” said Russom. “Just like I have to show up to class or clinic, I have to show up every Tuesday night on the court. I made a commitment and take it seriously, especially when I have teammates depending on me.”

Dental student Johanna Tan captains the first-year team, the Fluoriders, which is getting the rookie treatment in their first league, similar to what Do You Even Floss, Bro? experienced two years ago. The Fluoriders have lost their first five games.

“Unfortunately, there has been a solid trend of first-years getting their butts kicked in their first league,” said Tan, who has played basketball ever since she was old enough to bounce a ball. Even before entering UCSF as a student, she played for three years in the competitive UCSF Mission Bay women’s recreational league.

The intramural league is a good way to meet other people and see a fun side of classmates and friends, said Tan.

At the Fluoriders’ first game in September, a large group of classmates came to cheer them on. “We just started school, so we are all getting to know one another,” said Tan. “I think it was awesome how so many people came out to support everyone. And I want to say it translates and will continue to translate into our coursework.”

She and her first-year teammates do want to impress their upper classmates by beating them on the court someday. “Absolutely! It’d be silly not to want that,” said Tan, who certainly has not lost her competitive juices.

Roger Mraz, program administrator for Graduate and Research Affairs in the School of Dentistry, comes to nearly all the games to support the students.

“The students play to win in this league, and things can get intense out there,” said Mraz. “But it’s also exciting and fun to watch. I think they play ball like they do anything else in school – intensely, but professionally.” 

The UCSF School of Dentistry and UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health announce the launch of a joint program for dentists interested in dental public health.

The two-year program, starting in July 2017, will require students to apply to both a one-year full-time Interdisciplinary Masters in Public Health (MPH) degree program at UC Berkeley and a subsequent one-year full-time Dental Public Health (DPH) certificate program at UCSF.

The DPH certificate program requires dentists to have an MPH; this combination of the MPH degree and DPH certificate would enhance both programs for dentists and allow dentists who do not have an MPH to apply. Applicants must meet the admission criteria for the MPH program to be eligible for the combined program.

The one-year Interdisciplinary MPH and the DPH certificate programs both require students to conduct original research. Integration of the two programs will enable enrollees to leverage their MPH research to “jump-start” the two oral health-focused projects that are required of the DPH program, providing optimum time for completion at the end of the second-year DPH program.

The application deadline for students enrolling in the Berkeley program is Thursday, Dec. 1. Applications are handled via SOPHAS. Applications for the UCSF program are due Feb. 1, 2017.

Related link:

UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco Dental Public Health Joint Program

Dean John Featherstone’s December column:

As we approach the busy holiday season, it’s worth noting that the autumn has been full of activity as well.

First, there have been a number of updates regarding UCSF Dental Center. Our organizational chart has been finalized: The clinical portion of the school will be administered under the umbrella of UCSF Dental Center, and key positions have been established. Those include:

• Chief Executive Officer, which also will serve as Chief Dental Officer
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Operating Officer

We expect to announce appointments on two of these critical positions — chief executive officer and chief financial officer — very soon. The chief operating officer position will be posted soon and we expect an appointment early in 2017.

Having these leadership positions in place will position us to forge ahead. It’s important to remember that UCSF Dental Center is a business, just like UCSF’s medical center, within which we educate future dentists. Under the leadership of these new positions, we will improve integration between individual clinics, roll out more efficient purchasing and billing systems, unify our accounting systems, and implement other improvements. (Read how we all will benefit from an improved UCSF Dental Center.) It will take months, perhaps longer, to realize these, ever in pursuit of our goal: better patient care — in a more business-oriented fashion.

Fall 2016 also saw the election of a new U.S. president. We’ve witnessed a charged political and social atmosphere surrounding the election, concerning in particular issues of immigration, diversity and tolerance.

We at UCSF — indeed, throughout the University of California system — are committed to fostering an environment in which all are included. UC President Janet Napolitano and the 10 campus chancellors issued a post-election statement affirming this. I joined with deans of the other three professional schools and others in campus leadership in co-signing Chancellor Hawgood’s post-election message to the UCSF community, addressing the need to bridge the deep divisions in our country, starting at our own campus. A subsequent video message from the chancellor, in response to a number of troubling incidents, plainly states: Hate has no place at UCSF.

I want to assure everybody that we, as campus and school leadership, are doing everything we can to support our school and campus values of diversity and inclusion, no matter what happens in the political realm. 

Let us recall our core LEADERSHIP values, set forth in our strategic plan: in particular, diversity, which we embrace as a path to innovation, learning, mutual respect and excellence.

Underrepresented minority dentists represent a smaller percentage of the dental workforce and are unevenly distributed in relation to minority populations in the United States, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco and the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Dental Department.

The paper recommends improvements through a longer, deeper and sustained educational pipeline, robust systems of care, and genuine culture of inclusion. It will be released on Dec. 5, 2016, in the December issue of Health Affairs, which contains a dozen studies dedicated to oral health.

“We found a daunting shortage of underrepresented minority dentists, which indicates that the cumulative impact of current policy efforts to increase workforce diversity is woefully inadequate – despite initiatives at the local, state and federal level,” the authors wrote. “Dentists who want to serve high-need communities may be unable to do so, given the current economics of the dental practice environment and the lack of oral health parity.”

The study was initiated by senior author Paul Gates, DDS, MBA, associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chair of both the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Dental Department and the Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Health Center. Lead author Elizabeth Mertz, PhD, MA, associate professor of preventive and restorative dental sciences in the UCSF School of Dentistry, also wrote a separate analysis and commentary paper in this special issue on the development of an oral health care system that alleviates disparities and reduces dental disease.

Read the complete story on UCSF.edu.

Dean Featherstone's January 2017 column:

The new year brings a new arrival — and, by extension, new developments — in part of our core mission: education.

This month, we welcome Sara Hughes, MBE, as our new associate dean for education and student affairs. A native of England, she comes to us from Singapore, where she has served as examiner for the Brunei government’s DCP programs. She holds a doctorate in education and has set up innovative dental education programs in the United Kingdom.

I must extend sincere thanks to Peter Sargent, who has served as interim associate dean since Dorothy Perry’s retirement this past July. He also took admissions under his wing as we searched for a new admissions director. He has done a fabulous job. Please join me in thanking Peter for coming out of retirement to do an amazing job for these last six months.

We are excited to have Dr. Hughes on board, especially as we embark upon revision of our curriculum. She will work closely with Dr. Sophia Saeed and the revision committee on next steps in this process, and I expect she will have significant impact on this.

It bears noting that this is not necessarily a revision of the content of our curriculum; rather, it will focus on how it is taught and structured while, at the same time, updating content. Our curriculum is good — it was ahead of the curve when last revised, more than 10 years ago; but not so revolutionary now. This major revision will address how best to teach and incorporate newer thinking about dentistry.

Our curriculum is but one of the things that attracts applicants to our school. We are in the middle of our admissions process, and it is clear that we continue to attract and admit the very best students. We receive well over 2,000 applications for our annual class of 90 in our DDS program; our best applicants often receive offers of admission from multiple schools.

Another program that attracts many applicants for every position is our International Dentist Program. This program offers a DDS for foreign-trained dentists who come to us for two full years, already with a dental degree from another country. We fill 28 spots each year in this class, and again the class is filled by exceptional candidates.

We also draw the cream of the crop for our one-year programs, namely the Advanced Education in General Dentistry and general practice residency programs. Likewise, our numerous residency programs in the dental specialties attract the very best. We currently are in the matching process for these programs.

Our DDS-PhD program graduates some exceptional scholars, going into the world of academia. Recent graduates are headed for faculty positions across the country — and right here at UCSF.

Another testament to the quality of our students, and their commitment to the educational process, is their active participation in the American Dental Education Association, or ADEA. Our student chapter of ADEA recently was singled out as a model of engagement at the 2016 ADEA Fall Annual Session, held Oct. 27-29 in Houston, as well as the annual ADEA Dean’s conference, held in San Francisco last November. (Read reflections from some of our student ADEA members.)

Another educational opportunity we offer is our externship program, which is required for third- and fourth-year DDS students. It’s a wonderful experience, offering our students the opportunity to practice dentistry for an underserved population, in a real practice situation. Our nine-week program was one of the first offered by a dental school; it’s now part of many dental schools’ curricula. It’s an excellent program and we seek to make it  — and the whole of our educational experience — even better. To quote our strategic plan, we aim to “prepare the next generation of clinicians and scientists for a rapidly evolving health care system.”

To honor and build on a lifetime of giving and charitable service by the late Helen Diller, the Helen Diller Foundation has granted $500 million to UC San Francisco, a university to which Helen was both generous and devoted. The gift will be the largest single donation in UCSF’s history and one of the largest ever to a U.S. university.

The majority of the new commitment, $400 million, will establish endowments in Helen Diller’s name to support UCSF faculty and students, a critical University goal. This new commitment increases UCSF’s endowment, which currently stands at $2.25 billion, by nearly 18 percent. Funds will be used for:

• Faculty Support: A $200 million endowment will create a significant stream of faculty support in perpetuity. Of this, $100 million will be used to retain outstanding current professors and recruit preeminent faculty to UCSF by funding Helen Diller Distinguished Professorships.
• Student Support: An additional $200 million of endowment will support students at UCSF’s four professional schools, all ranked among the top in the nation: the schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. This commitment increases the amount of funding available for scholarships by more than 150 percent.
• Innovation Fund: The final $100 million will create an Innovation Fund, which can be drawn on, over time, at the discretion of UCSF’s current and future chancellors.

Read more on this significant gift at ucsf.edu.

Patients who undergo radiation therapy for head and neck cancers often lose the ability to produce saliva because radiation destroys salivary glands that lie in the way of the tumor.

The damage to humans’ glands is permanent, but mice have the ability to rebuild the organ within two weeks of an injury. In experiments, when radiation destroys saliva-producing structures called acini, the animals’ stem cells divide and differentiate into acinar cells to rebuild the salivary gland.

Noel Cruz-Pacheco, MS, a staff research associate in UC San Francisco’s Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, and his colleagues in the lab of Sarah Knox, PhD, want to know what triggers mouse salivary stem cells to repopulate acini.

Read more of this latest installment of the Science in Focus series at ucsf.edu.

By Andy Evangelista

A one-week trip, more than 7,400 miles away to West Africa, will help make second-year UCSF student Hailey Taylor an inspired and impactful dentist at home.

Taylor, a research fellow in the School of Dentistry’s Global Oral Health Program, is part of an Oregon and UCSF team studying silver-nitrate fluoride varnish (SNFV), a topical antimicrobial, in preventing and treating cavities in children.

SNFV has been used in many countries for decades, but it is relatively new to American dentistry. UCSF recently became one of the first dental schools in the country to train its students in the use of silver compounds for dental patients.

The large-scale testing of SNFV in two developing countries where cavities are prevalent may have a two-fold benefit: lots of data to confirm that SNFV works, and treatment for hundreds of kids who are at high risk of dental decay.

Last May, the research team treated and evaluated some 150 children in Ecuador. In September, Taylor joined the research for its second leg, venturing to rural Ghana to screen residents of an entire village and apply SNFV treatment to children who desperately need dental care.

“We saw 250 kids in two days — more teeth than I've seen in my life,” said Taylor. “The organization was very impressive and ran very smoothly, considering we were in a school library without electricity or dental chairs.”

While the main goal of the trip was to collect data, for Taylor it proved to be as much revelation as research.

“I was surprised by the level of need for dentists in the country, particularly in very rural areas,” she said. “I don't have much clinical experience, but we saw a lot of people who really needed a permanent dentist, but instead got us. I think for those we were able to see, it's certainly better than nothing, but there's a huge need for permanent dental care providers and better oral health education.”

Taylor entered the School of Dentistry in 2015 after working for three years as a chemical engineer. She decided that a health care profession – perhaps a general dentist – was more for her, and it’s in her blood. Her mother is a nurse practitioner in the rural California county of Colusa. Taylor envisioned herself as an “everyone’s dentist” – for the young or old, wealthy or poor.

“My mother cares for many people across the life spectrum,” said Taylor. “I have a great admiration for what she does. In a rural area like ours, you don’t have to be a specialist. You become what the people need.”

Last spring, Taylor inquired about the School of Dentistry’s Global Oral Health Program’s research fellowships, but wasn’t quite sure where her curiosity would lead. West Africa was distant in both location and mind.

“UCSF is such a renowned research school, and I felt that I wouldn’t be getting the full value of my opportunity here if I didn’t do some research,” she said.

Taylor talked to Benjamin Chaffee, DDS, MPH, PhD, director of Global Oral Health, about the SNFV project, which was headed by Oregon dentist Steve Duffin, DDS. She developed a research proposal, and eventually was awarded a research fellowship. Chaffee is her mentor and co-investigator, along with Jeremy Horst, a UCSF clinical professor and scientist and a leader in and proponent of SNFV research.

The journey to Ghana far exceeded her expectations. “I am so much more excited about my research and global oral health research following this trip,” she said. “It's one thing to talk about the need, but another to see it and put a face to it. SNFV has tremendous potential in rural villages and other areas that don't have enough providers.

“It's hard to imagine how one person can make such a significant difference until you see it in person. I think this trip made me realize that even as one general practice dentist, I can make a significant impact,” said Taylor. “The person (Duffin) who started this project was where I am at one point, and he has improved the lives of hundreds of kids.”

Taylor is one of nine UCSF dental students awarded fellowships this year by the Global Oral Health Program .

"Hailey has been an outstanding representative of the Global Oral Health Program,” Chaffee said. “As her mentor, I see the preparation and attention to detail that leads to her success. The week in Ghana is the memory that lasts a lifetime, but the months of poring over spreadsheets, devising protocols and crafting a sound hypothesis are what leads to meaningful new knowledge.

“Research has been a strong component of the School of Dentistry for decades,” said Chaffee. “In recent years, our students have shown not only a rising interest in public health, but also global health.”

The Global Oral Health research fellowship program provides research and travel support to UCSF dental students undertaking original research projects with a global oral health focus. Fellows were chosen based on faculty review of their research proposals.

"I am continuously impressed by the creativity and ambition of our research fellows,” said Chaffee, who has directed Global Oral Health since 2014. “The program could not operate without a stellar team of faculty mentors and the commitment of our student to build connections in the local community and around the world."

This is one in a series of profiles of School of Dentistry faculty who have been singularly influential on their students.

By Terri Hunter-Davis

Jennifer Perkins’ formal teaching assignment is oral surgery. But the knowledge Perkins, DDS, MD, imparts extends well beyond the classroom or the operatory.

Dr. Perkins, an assistant clinical professor in the School of Dentistry, is the course director for Clinical Oral Surgery, rotations 1 and 2 — required of all third- and fourth-year dental students. She teaches the courses year round, plus other instructional duties; and sees patients regularly in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Faculty Clinic. Also year-round: mothering a 5-year-old, 3-year-old twins and a 16-month-old — the proverbial “second shift.”

“It’s a balancing act, for sure,” she said. “But it’s important to let [students] see the balancing act.”

If Dr. Perkins did nothing but teach, it would remain a balancing act. She chairs the course in Hospital Dentistry for third-year students, and is the section leader for the clinical local anesthesia training of second-year students, as well as for the oral surgery and implant curriculum for third- and fourth-year didactic courses. At the Kanbar Center, she also runs several educational programs centered on simulation and standardized patient evaluation for students in the first, second, and third years of dental school. Teaching, for Dr. Perkins, runs the gamut from formal lectures to small group teaching, to hands-on clinical instruction.

It has been a learning process for her, too.

“I’ve learned a lot about how to do this,” she said. Dr. Perkins joined the faculty full-time in July 2015, when she assumed the oral surgery course directorship. “The first year, I spent getting the lay of the land. I didn’t want to make uniformed changes.”

Since then, Dr. Perkins has been accepted into the PhD program in education here; she also was a scholar in the 2015-16 Teaching Scholars Program. “It has been really illuminating: not only how do I want to teach, but [considering] how will students learn. It’s been a whole new world beyond surgery.”

Part of her teaching philosophy involves showing students that there’s a whole world beyond clinical practice.

“My life definitely informs my teaching,” she said. “Too often it’s made out to be an either-or thing,” referring to work-life balance. “And it’s not just women who need to worry about balance; men do too.”

Balance is relative, though. For Dr. Perkins, “When I don’t have a list of things to do, I’m not at my best.” And for her, spare time is not catch-up time. If given an extra hour, “I’d use it to improve my knowledge — personal, professional development. I’d want to learn more, to do better.”

She realizes many are dependent on her and her knowledge, and she is mindful about passing it on to others: in particular, to her students, whom she respectfully views as her “future colleagues.” As an instructor, “I have high expectations of them, but they always manage to blow me away.”

Five first-year dental students have been chosen to compete for AADR Student Research Fellowship awards, to be announced at the opening ceremony for the IADR/AADR/CADR General Session, March 22 in San Francisco.

The students and their mentors are: Duy Bui (Benjamin Chaffee), Michael PH Chen (Jeffrey Bush), Michael S. Nguyen (Chelsea Bahney), Kelly Ren (Sharof M. Tugizov) and Rae Sesanto (Diane Barber).

These fellowships, supported by several major industrial companies as well as by AADR 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.

Andrew Jang, DDS, PhD, has been nominated to compete in the the IADR Unilever Hatton Competition, senior category. The competition is designed to provide an opportunity for the best junior investigators from all IADR Divisions and Sections to present their research at the IADR General Session. Dr. Jang's abstract is "A Hands-free CO2 Laser Clinical Handpiece for Selective Composite Removal." His mentor is Daniel Fried.

From John D.B. Featherstone, dean of the School of Dentistry:

I am pleased to announce the formal launching of UCSF’s Dental Center, and the appointment of some key administrative personnel. In addition, I am providing some timelines for the initial phase of the implementation of the Dental Center. As you know, the Dental Center addresses several key elements of our Strategic Plan with the goal of providing outstanding, seamless, patient-centered and cost-effective care in an environment that optimizes patient experiences and student learning.  We expect that with enhanced patient services, increased clinic efficiencies and strong market presence, we will generate substantial additional resources to reinvest into our educational, clinical and research missions and also for our staff and faculty development.

Following several meetings over the past months with an Advisory Board and input from the school’s administration, Department Chairs, faculty and Dean’s Council, a transitional organizational structure for the Dental Center has been formulated. Given the maturation of this concept we are now entering the next phase of planning and implementation of the Dental Center. The Dental Center will be managed by an Administrative Team headed by the Chief Executive Officer/Chief Dental Officer (CEO/CDO), and composed of Director of Operations and a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) supported by Directors of Clinical Information and Technology (currently NIS) and Marketing. Working in collaboration with the Dean, Associate Deans, Department Chairs and managers, the Administrative Team’s charge will be to prioritize, plan and deliver on the key goals of the Dental Center as stipulated in the Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan of the Dental School.

The inaugural members of the Administrative Team will officially be in place on Feb. 1, 2017 with the goal of seeking further input from staff, administrators, faculty, program directors, and departments and divisions to assess the current state of the School of Dentistry’s clinical operations, identify areas for improvement and, together with the department chairs, develop and implement the changes necessary to accomplish the goals stated above.  The department chairs will retain financial responsibility and administrative authority for their respective departments and clinics.  The Dental Center will provide the structure and organization to enable integrated patient-centered care, and improved efficiency for the operation of the entire dental clinical enterprise.  The leaders of the UCSF Dental Center will work with the Department Chairs to achieve clinical and financial improvements and success.  The details of the operational structure of the Dental Center and its areas of authority will be finalized in the coming months.

It is my pleasure to inform you about the appointment of two experienced and capable individuals to key positions on the Dental Center Administrative Team. First, I have asked Dr. Sunil Kapila to serve as the inaugural CEO/CDO of the Dental Center, which he has kindly accepted.  Dr. Kapila obtained his dental degree at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, an MS in orthodontics at University of Oklahoma as a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, and a PhD in Oral Biology from UCSF. Dr. Kapila is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He has an extensive and successful administrative history relevant to this position attained in his previous leadership positions at the University of Michigan and UCSF. As a Department Chair at the University of Michigan, Dr. Kapila balanced the competing institutional demands of academic and research excellence, with well-structured and efficient clinical operations, and collaborative patient care across different units.  Dr. Kapila has a proven ability to run efficient clinical operations with reinvestment of reserves towards enhancing institutional and programmatic goals. Undoubtedly this background will be essential in ensuring that we will maintain a balanced approach to our core missions of high caliber education, research, clinical experiences and patient care while developing essential resources required for supporting these very missions. As CEO/CDO Dr. Kapila will report to the Dean, and with input from the Dean, the Advisory Board and in collaboration with the Department Chairs, the CEO/CDO will lead the charge of planning and implementing the Dental Center. 

Our other key appointment is that of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Lauren Haworth will expand her duties within the Dean’s Office to include the role of CFO for the UCSF Dental Center. Haworth has served as finance director in the School of Dentistry since October 2012 and will continue with this role. She previously worked as a management analyst for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and as chief of budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs in West Los Angeles. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University.

As CFO, Haworth will be responsible for creating and implementing new standardized clinical financial reports to be used by all School of Dentistry clinical units and creating guidelines and training regarding standardization of expense coding across all clinical units. She will work closely with the department managers. In addition, Lauren will be responsible for monitoring overall financial health of the clinical units and ensuring that clinic financial plans are consistent with the Dental Center’s overall strategic plan.

Further, we are undertaking an internal search for a Director of Operations. The Director of Operations is a new position that will report directly to the CEO/CDO and indirectly to the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. The Director of Operations will be responsible for the day to day coordination and oversight of the clinic facilities and central clinical services areas within the UCSF Dental Center. The Director of Operations will work closely with the CEO/CDO and CFO of the Dental Center, the Department Chairs, the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Program Directors and Department Managers in addressing the clinical mission of the Dental Center.

In addition, we have begun a search to hire a Director of Marketing and Strategic Relations.  This is an expanded version of the role held until recently by Marc Fredson.  This role will be split between the Dental Center (70 percent) and the School of Dentistry (30 percent), and will be responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive, cohesive, and integrated strategic marketing and communications plans for the Dental Center and the School for the purpose of assertively promoting and advocating our services to external and internal audiences.

I believe that we have now embarked on an important and necessary journey to better serve our many constituents including our patients and students, while enhancing our ability to deliver on our primary mission of “Advancing health through excellence in patient care, education and discovery.” I hope that you will join me in supporting our Dental Center Adminsitrative Team in this endeavor to deliver on a critical goal of our Strategic Plan. 

A record number of 24 pre-doctoral students have been selected to participate in the 2017 Summer Dental Student Research Fellowship Program. Thanks to the strong support of the fellowships’ many sponsors, a broad range of research topic proposals have been funded, including stem cells, craniofacial development, biomaterials, laser technology, health literacy and health policy.

The selection committee was led by Lisa Chung, DDS, MPH, and includes faculty from all four UCSF Dentistry departments as reviewers of the submitted research proposals. Selection was based on the scientific merit of each proposal, as well as on the anticipated training potential and research experience to be gained in conducting the project.

“Our Summer Research Fellowship Program continues to grow and we are pleased to announce that we have set another record for this year’s cohort," said Dr. Chung. "We received very strong applications this year, which represents the quality and breadth of the research here in the School of Dentistry. Along with these outstanding fellows, we have 24-plus faculty mentors and co-mentors that will dedicate their time and provide the environment for this great learning opportunity. This faculty-student mentoring relationship is at the heart of this program.”

The 2017 fellows and their mentors are:
[Student | Mentor]

Khrystal Audi | Rebeka Silva
Sophie Ballard  |Judith Barker
Xiaoshan Bao | Elizabeth Mertz
Duy Bui | Benjamin Chaffee
Angela Chen | Yan Zhang
Michael PH Chen | Jeffrey Bush
Hoorshad Fathi-Kelly | Thuan Le
Mohsen Forghany | Jennifer Perkins
Nadia Gabriel | Stephen Connelly
Jonathan Gao | Snehlata Oberoi
Eric Hsu | Ralph Marcucio
Anne Marie Jeng | Sunita Ho
Clare Lee | Andrew Jheon
James Lin | Stuart Gansky
Wilson Ng | Cynthia Darling
Albert Ngo | Daniel Fried
Michael S. Nguyen | Chelsea Bahney
Trung Nguyen | Elsbeth Kalenderian
Brett Parks | Yvonne Kapila
Kelly Ren | Sharof Tugizov
Rae Sesanto | Diane Barber
Melody Sitlin | Stefan Habelitz
Lu (Lucy) Tian | Wu Li
Auvi Tran | Rishi Jay Gupta

The fellowships are funded through the generous support of the UCSF School of Dentistry Dean’s Office; Department of Orofacial Sciences; Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences; Department of Cell and Tissue Biology; Buchanan Dental Center; Program in Global Oral Health; Program in Craniofacial Biology; American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Summer Fellowships; Dr. Dorothy Perry, associate dean emerita for education and student affairs; Dr. Thomas Lang, associate dean for research; emeriti faculty Drs. Deborah and John Greenspan, Dr. Caroline Damsky and Dr. Peter Sargent; the John C. Greene Fund; and Delta Dental.

By Andy Evangelista

A picture may be worth a thousand words. But new imaging technology that harmonizes mighty and distinctive microscopes may tell a complex story about a disease or condition – how it develops and how it can be treated precisely.

In UCSF’s Bioengineering and Biomaterials High Resolution Correlative Imaging Facility, researchers examine a variety of biological specimens from bone, kidney, cartilage, blood vessels, teeth and other body tissues.

“The facility integrates traditional high resolution light with electron and X-ray microscopy techniques to visualize biological systems from atoms to tissues to organs – linking structure to function,” said Sunita Ho, MS, PhD, director of the facility and professor of preventive and restorative dental sciences. “It is the aperture through which pathologic processes can be discovered.”

While an electron microscope can magnify up to 2 million times to analyze a specimen’s structure, a light microscope is better for viewing live cells, their movement and functions. The facility — located on the eighth floor of the Health Sciences West Building on the Parnassus campus – combines the best of the three microscopy techniques into a single instrument to produce exquisite images and detail for clinicians and scientists. 

Response of suspensory ligament between the tooth and bone to chewing

“It’s greater than the sum of its parts,” she said. “By integrating the microscopes we obtain significantly greater information than the complementary information that we would get from individual pieces.”

Ho likens the imaging concept to Google Earth technology, which can offer a mile-high view of an entire city, zoom on one neighborhood and home in on a single building. But on an even tinier scale, correlative imaging may be more powerful and precise. It can get into the building – its biological target – and see what’s happening inside the walls and basement.

The new technology that combines the best of X-ray, electron and light microscopy modalities also is more convenient and practical. Imaging in most laboratories requires moving a specimen from one microscope to another, which can be labor intensive and risky. One correlative workflow avoids that labor and risk. Also, with correlative imaging, scientists don’t have to cut specimens to get a  detailed inside look at their targets/regions of interest.

“The ability to image the same specimens at a macro and a nano scale is very exciting and provides a whole new dimension to research at UCSF,” said John D.B. Featherstone, dean of the School of Dentistry. “I am so pleased to see this campuswide facility come into operation, and am very excited that the School of Dentistry laboratories were able to house the facility and to provide substantial support for it.”

Toward understanding kidney stone formation in humans: bridging the gap between patient information (patient care X-ray computed tomography – CT which Dr. Marshall Stoller diagnoses) and the beginnings of pathological biomineral (micro X-ray computed tomography, which Dr. Sunita Ho investigates) formation. Work supported by NIDDK R21DK109912 (Sunita Ho), Division of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, School of Dentistry, in collaboration with Dr. Marshall Stoller, Department of Urology, School of Medicine, UCSF

At the correlative imaging facility, operated by the School of Dentistry, researchers analyze tiny tooth fragments to understand damage from bacteria, grinding teeth and how ligament mineralization affects gum and bone near the teeth.

But the imaging technology has application and value far beyond oral health. One of Ho’s collaborators is Marshall Stoller, UCSF professor of urology and nationally recognized leader in treating kidney disease. Their NIH-supported biomineralization studies are shedding light on how urinary stones form. They hope the research will guide novel treatments for a disease that is on the rise worldwide.

The underpinnings of how biominerals and plaque form in human tissue have not been well-studied, said Ho. But the advanced imaging at the facility is producing new pictures of their structure and role in penile calcification (Tom Lue, Department of Urology), knee osteoarthritis (Daniel Bikle, Departments of Medicine and Dermatology), artery disease (Michael Conte, Department of Surgery) and a variety of other diseases related to ectopic mineral formations within organs/tissues.

Advancing health care

“The state-of-the-art imaging is needed to confirm processes that lead to the pathophysiology of many and varied diseases,” said Ho. “It provides the framework to address unmet clinical challenges for individual patients and can be the backbone to develop newer personalized medicine algorithms.

“The technology supports our UCSF mission of advancing health care — from diagnostics to therapeutics,” she said. 

The novel technology also aids UCSF’s research mission by creating new collaborations among scientists of many departments and disciplines.

“UCSF is a world-class institution that traditionally has been divided into silos – the School of Dentistry is unique, yet separate from the School of Medicine for example,” said Ho. “There is a need to bring varied disciplines and professions together to work as inter- and trans-disciplinary working groups. Cross fertilization among varied fields will further push understanding of disease processes and lead to novel therapeutic interventions.”

That sentiment is supported by the substantial investments made in the correlative imaging facility by the Dean’s Office of the School of Dentistry and by the Office of the UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost’s office.

“The correlative imaging system allows us to register images based on tissue biochemical properties, tissue ultrastructure and tissue microarchitecture into the same coordinate system,” said Thomas Lang, associate dean for research for School of Dentistry. “It gives us a new lens with which to study biology and by its nature supports UCSF’s goal of promoting collaboration between scientists with differing interests and expertise, across UCSF and the UC system.”  

Breaking out of silos

The facility already hosts users from UCSF’s Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, as well as Dentistry. So, there is some chipping of the silos noted by Ho.

“Cutting edge tools are an essential element for breakthroughs in science, and I could not be more pleased about the multidisciplinary, collaborate effort that has gone into creating this core facility,” said Dan Lowenstein, M.D., executive vice chancellor and provost.

Eventually, correlative imaging technology at UCSF could be offered to other Bay Area institutions and colleges, said Ho. “High school, medical and other professional students and post-docs will have the ability to visualize pathology at multiple scales,” she said.

“I congratulate Sunita for leading the initiative over several years to bring correlative imaging to UCSF and the Bay Area,” Dean Featherstone added.

Making the technology widely available “could help integrate UCSF with our surrounding community,” said Ho. “An electron image has much less relevance to the lay community; however, with correlative microscopy, high resolution images can be put into context to better understand disease processes that the UCSF community is trying to investigate.”

Related link

New Sigma 500 Microscope Improves Specimen Examination

Dean John Featherstone's March column:

I’ve long felt that one ought not spend more than about 10 years in an assignment such as department chair or dean. These are very demanding, 24/7 positions. They require energy and enthusiasm.

As of July of this year, I will have been dean of the UCSF School of Dentistry for 10 years. Accordingly, I’ve decided it’s time for someone else to pick up the reins. I will be retiring as of December 2017.

Transitions offer the opportunity for reflection. Much has transpired in the school over the last decade.

One of the biggest hurdles, at the start of my tenure as dean, was when the world economy crashed in October 2008.  The school had to contend with state budget cuts of about 20 percent practically overnight. We faced the major task of continuing to do what we were doing with way less money. But we pulled together a wonderful team to address this, and have emerged stronger, leaner and undoubtedly better than we were before.

During that time, the school put together its first strategic plan, covering 2008-15. That guided us through the recession to stronger things.  I’m proud to say we’re into the second year of our second strategic plan, covering 2015-20. Two major developments from the five core objectives of the current plan are reaching fruition: the launch of UCSF Dental Center, and our curriculum reform project.

Clinical progress has been made as well. A decade ago, our switch to digital radiography — while I was interim dean — ushered us into the modern era. More recently, the predoctoral clinics have seen a 50-percent increase in productivity, and we continue to build on that. In the last year and a half, we’ve introduced our popular night clinics; patients also have benefited from upgraded waiting areas.

It has been a good 10 years for our research enterprise as well. We continue to lead all U.S. dental schools in NIH funding (from preliminary accounts, for the 25th consecutive year). We have been successful in recruiting vigorous, well-funded researchers across all departments, and the work has been tremendous. A few highlights: the successful launch of the Program in Craniofacial Biology, headed by Ophir Klein; the formation of the Children’s Oral Health Program, gaining momentum under Pam Den Besten’s leadership; and the recent launch of the new head/neck/oral cancer research group, headed by Andrei Goga.

Our teaching enterprise has been on a solid foundation as well. Our DDS program, and some of our specialty programs, were successfully accredited in 2012, with no recommendations: validation that we were doing things right. Our faculty have won many awards, and are being recognized for their work on the national and international levels. Our successful recruitment of new department chairs has in turn resulted in the recruitment of wonderful new faculty. Many have been supported by endowed chairs and professorships, thanks to the generosity of dedicated donors and to matching funds from the UC Office of the President.

Generous giving has played a part in renovating our physical plant: notably, research lab space on Health Sciences East 15; Health Sciences West 7 and 8; and the recent multi-million-dollar renovation of the Fleming preclinical simulation laboratory.

Private giving is the foundation of one thing I am very proud of: the Dean’s Scholarship for Opportunity program; and with it, the Chancellor’s Scholarship for Opportunity program. These programs have brought on some amazing scholars from disadvantaged backgrounds, who otherwise might not have been able to come to UCSF.

We truly do have the most amazing students here at the School of Dentistry. Many have won numerous awards, individually and collectively for our ADEA student chapter and John C. Greene Society. Part of this stems from changes in how we have recruited students over the last 10 years.  I have worked with many student leaders closely during my time as dean and the quality of their leadership has been one of the reasons for our continuing success.

None of this would have been possible without a huge team effort here, everyone from grass roots on up — including strong support from the three chancellors under whom I’ve served: J. Michael Bishop, Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Sam Hawgood. And in looking ahead, the school has a very strong leadership team in our associate deans and department chairs on which it can rely.  

I would like to especially acknowledge our wonderful staff, without whom none of this could have happened. Our faculty and students rely heavily on their support.  A big shout out also goes to our wonderful, dedicated, expert faculty.

In the coming months, I plan to hold a special town hall meeting to highlight 10 years of progress here in the School of Dentistry; look for details in upcoming issues of our weekly Newsbrief newsletter.

I must say that I truly have enjoyed my time as dean. I have worked with wonderful people, and it has been a joy to interact with students. I have been privileged to visit many parts of the world representing the school, helping to put UCSF on the map — particularly regarding the CAMBRA protocol.

I would like to thank again everyone past and present, within the UCSF School of Dentistry and our many friends and supporters outside the school, for your participation and support to make this one of the most successful and outstanding dental schools in the world. I will forever cherish my 23 years at UCSF.

This is one in an occasional series of articles spotlighting courses in the dental curriculum and their directors.

In the first-year dental curriculum, there are courses that are narrowly focused on dentistry. There also are courses that take a broader view of the body, its structures and how it reacts to infection.

This is where BMS 117, Infection and Host Response/Cell Physiology, fits in. The course, taught and directed by Elizabeth Joyce, PhD, is one of several microbiology and immunology courses Joyce teaches across multiple schools at UCSF.

It’s not just basic science: “It’s relevant to health care professionals” because it addresses the body’s response to disease. And when it comes to human health, Joyce said, “the mouth is very telling. There’s a list of chronic diseases that have an infection or immunological base” that relate to oral health.

Joyce, an associate adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and director of the Microbiology Teaching Laboratory in the UCSF School of Medicine, is finishing her sixth year in directing the course.

“It’s evolving. It’s important to stay current,” she said — not just in content, but also in technique. Joyce uses various teaching tools: from online sources and video to labs and new technologies. She has developed digital microbiology lab manuals for dental and medical students, and currently is interested in a mobile app, Explain Everything — “it’s sort of an interactive whiteboard” — as a tool to foster both explanation and collaboration.

Joyce also is a proponent of small-group learning. “When students focus on a piece of material” — for example, pharmacology — “peer-to-peer learning can be powerful.” The approach is beneficial for many students: “This is not easy content; I’m looking for what we can do to help.

“Students are excited about [small groups]; teams often stick together through the whole term.”

That excitement is reaching out to include the course content. Joyce is delighted to see that “many [students] have an ‘awakening,’ developing an authentic interest in the material.”

Students also are developing a willingness to provide feedback.

“I’m very grateful to those students who’ve offered their thoughtful comments,” Joyce said. “They’ve made the course better by letting me know what’s working, what’s not working.”