Dean John Featherstone's June column:

Not long ago, I ran across an alumna — who’s also a friend — whom I hadn’t seen in a while. We bumped into each other at some function and agreed it was time to catch up. We met for lunch, updated each other about all manner of things.

She also wanted to donate to the Dean’s Scholarship for Opportunity. But that was quite the frosting on the cake: a wonderful gesture, but not the primary reason for our lunch. That was purely two friends catching up with each other, finding out where each was going in his and her respective lives — one of those small things friends do.

Small things matter.

We should never underestimate the effect that some small thing — an act of kindness, or even just doing our job well, with consideration and respect — will have on others.

Those qualities — consideration and respect —  sometimes appear to be not as valued as they once were. We at UCSF do consciously value these: The values we hold at both the school and campus levels include mutual respect, thoughtfulness, integrity. This is especially important in patient care. We must never lose sight of the thoughtfulness and respect we want to show our patients in the busyness of our daily lives. When we are confronted with those who are thoughtless, rude, abrupt … it is my hope that somehow we can navigate through that, not be too affected by what they do.

I grant this is not always an easy task. To give another example: I’m a reasonably sizeable person, and every so often someone inexplicably walks into me. Recently I was in an airport where a person was walking toward me, reading something on her phone. I changed direction to avoid her, and she changed direction. I changed direction again to avoid her; she changed direction too. At that point I stopped, and she walked right into me. I apologized to her and went on.

In the past I might have said something quite different. It’s been somewhat of a personal journey to get to that point. It can take a long time, as well as conscious thought and effort. But it is a journey worth undertaking — better sooner than later.

I’ve seen the fruits of that here: in clinical situations, with students and faculty, who have gone out of their way to treat with compassion a patient who has come in with pain and impatience.

It’s a small but important thing: to try to be a bit more relaxed and forgiving of others. As the common saying goes, Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. One never knows what happened to someone the night before, or even that morning.

A beloved member of the School of Dentistry has come up hard against one of those battles. Last month, we learned of the unexpected passing of Matthew Finzen, DDS, MD — a member of the school’s class of 2014 and the son of longtime faculty member Fritz Finzen, DDS. Many of us here are close to the Finzen family and have held Matt in high regard. We continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

Times of transition — an untimely death, for certain; but happier occasions as well, such as our upcoming commencement exercises — help put things in perspective. They remind us of the journeys we undertake. And they serve as reminders that, along those journeys, small things do indeed matter.
 

The stories of our 2017 graduates are as diverse as the students themselves. Two of our graduates, Shaun Abrams and Amy McFarling, also are included in UCSF.edu's video feature for commencement. 

Shaun Abrams
Fifth-year DDS/PhD program
Propelled by Dreams

Shaun Abrams’ dreams brought him 3,000 miles, from New York to California, to study both science and clinical care. Abrams is finishing his doctorate and his first year of dental school as part of the School of Dentistry’s DDS/PhD program.

“UCSF always was my dream school,” Abrams said. “When I expressed interest in doing a dual degree, my mentors always put UCSF at the top of the list” of schools he should consider: “Because of the high caliber of not only basic scientists, but also clinicians. They knew I would be pushed to grow clinically and scientifically.”

Scientific highlights include research on fixing a congenital facial defect in a mouse model, and exploring how this might be applied to humans. That experience “is driving me to push the bounds of research, to think big, to take risks going forward.”

Abrams is at a unique crossroads: finishing one educational journey while still in the throes of another. “One thing I’m really excited about, post-commencement, is continuing in my clinical training. Graduating from the PhD program has been such an enriching experience; I’m looking forward to the next phase where I can focus on clinical care.”

Studying in the DDS program “allows me to reconnect with what got me passionate about health care and dentistry in the first place,” Abrams said: “the interactions I had shadowing my mother, who is a dentist.”

Abrams credits the dreams of his parents, both immigrants from Guyana, as almost as great a force as his own.

“Watching my mom graduate from dental school when I was 6 years old — the tremendous amount of joy and pride I felt in that moment will always stick with me,” he said. “And my dad, watching him [pursue] his MBA, helping him type his papers — when I was in high school, he would wake me up and we would type those papers together. Those formative moments showed me the value of hard work , determination and sacrifice in obtaining your dreams.”

Amy McFarling
Fourth-year DDS
A Wild, Rewarding Ride

When asked to summarize her UCSF experience in three words, Amy McFarling’s response was tumultuous, rewarding and humbling.

“Everyone was very surprised when I chose to go to San Francisco. I was surprised too,” the Texan said. “Being away from them was certainly a challenge.” Part of what lured her West — a personal relationship — proved a challenge too. But, “I just happened to be in a space where I thrived anyway … this is where I was supposed to be.”

McFarling, like many, found the work of learning dentistry tumultuous as well. “You’re trying to juggle all your patients, get things done for them, while managing paperwork — it can be frustrating sometimes, when all you want to do is take care of your patients and their needs.”

The flip side of that reveals much of what’s rewarding.

“There are not many other times in my adult life that are as rewarding as a patient saying, ‘Thank you for helping me get the smile I wanted,’” said McFarling, who is heading back to the Lone Star State to start residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

She credits UCSF not just for molding her into a dentist, but also “helping me figure out who I am as a human being and a health care provider. I really didn’t know what I was made of.”

And that has helped McFarling manage the humbling times.

“You can practice all you want on mannequins or in the simulation lab, read all the articles, look over all the PowerPoints … it comes down to the day when you actually do something, it can be either completely not textbook at all or just doesn’t go how you planned,” she said.

To other students who may feel out of their league: “I certainly felt like that. It’s not a mistake that you’re here: Your name is on your lab coat, your name is on your station for a reason. Don’t forget that. Things are going to be hard. But it’ll be OK.”

Irene Cheng
Fourth-year DDS
More, Bigger, Better

Not so long ago, Irene Cheng thought she would become a marine biologist. But she found the discipline short on personal interaction. At about the same time, a friend’s father offered her the opportunity to intern in his office.

“He was an oral surgeon, and he was the one who told me that dentistry was not just about drilling and filling,” Cheng said.

“With a dental degree, I could be pushing for legislation, go into public health, research, academia, be at a community clinic, go into private practice — so many different opportunities.”

She was convinced.

“Going into dentistry is probably the best thing I’ve decided in my entire life,” Cheng said. “Dental school has been fulfilling — humbling, but fulfilling. Whether you’re educating patients on oral hygiene or doing a filling, what you’re doing is making changes in your community. UCSF makes you realize you’re part of something bigger than just yourself.”

That became evident even within the campus setting. “UCSF has always been the prime example of what happens when you put a very diverse group of people together. It’s all about diversity and changes and innovation, and I never understood how that came together until I got to the school,” said Cheng, whose next plans are a general practice residency in San Diego. 

“You put all these people together, everyone challenges each other. When people challenge you, you open your mind up to different things, and that’s what makes you grow. It’s how things become better, how things are innovated. And that’s why I love UCSF.”

— Terri Hunter-Davis

Photos by Elisabeth Fall
Mugunth Nandagopal (left), IDP class president, chats with Roger Mraz, program administrator for the Office of Graduate and Research Affairs, and Sara Hughes, MBE, associate dean for education and student affairs.

The close of the school year heralds the School of Dentistry’s annual Recognition Banquet, held June 2 at the Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco.

The event, co-hosted by the UCSF Dental Alumni Association, recognizes students, faculty and staff for special achievements. Kicking off the gala affair was acknowledgement of the DAA’s Medal of Honor recipients for 2017, Jeffory Eaton, DDS ’83, and Antonio Ragadio, DDS ’76. The honorees formally received their medals at UCSF Alumni Weekend in April. In a departure from the usual prepared remarks, Dr. Eaton — an accomplished musician — sang “The Long and Winding Road,” ably accompanying himself on guitar.

It also was an evening of transitions: Sara Hughes, MBE, associate dean for education and student affairs, took her first turn as mistress of ceremonies for the banquet. And Michael Lopez, DDS ’74, a 2016 Medal of Honor recipient, offered a tribute to Dean John D.B. Featherstone, who will step down at year’s end.

Dental Alumni Association Awards
Alumni Award for Most Motivated Student: Yolanda Ho
Alumni Awards for Professional Development: Irene Cheng and Jill Alderfer
Alumni Award for Clinical Excellence: Sean Lin

Awards Presentation by Graduating Class
Outstanding Peer Award, Dental: Mona Nejad
Outstanding Peer Award, IDP: Mugunth Nandagopal
Staff Recognition, Dental: Mauricio Chavez
Staff Recognition, IDP: Karen Maalona
Excellence in Teaching, Dental: Dr. Sophia Saeed
Excellence in Teaching, IDP: Dr. Richard Mogensen
Riebe Award for Clinical Teaching, Dental: Dr. James Giblin
Riebe Award for Clinical Teaching, IDP: Dr. Gurrinder Atwal

Awards for Outstanding Achievement
Academy of Dental Materials Student Award: Narita Lim Leong
Academy of General Dentistry Senior Student Dental Awards: Leon Chung and Ryan Tuinstra
Academy of Operative Dentistry Outstanding Achievement Award: Daniel Kang
Academy of Osseointegration Outstanding Student in Implant Dentistry Award: Cameron Walsh
American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry Student Award of Merit: Eunice Jung
American Academy of Implant Dentistry Certificate of Recognition: Ruth Jingru Yan
American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology Dental Student Award: Aditi Garg
American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology Dental Student Award: Sean Lin
American Academy of Oral Medicine Certificate of Merit Award: Saumya Sehgal
American Academy of Orofacial Pain Outstanding Senior Award: Prashant Charugundla
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Outstanding Senior Award: Jean Calvo
American Academy of Periodontology Dental Student Achievement Award: Yolanda Ho
American Association of Endodontists Student Achievement Award: Homam Sebti
American Association of Oral Biologists Oral Biology Award: Mychi Nguyen
American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Dental Student Award: Amy McFarling
American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Dental Implant Student Award: Minerva Loi
American Association of Orthodontists Outstanding Student Award: Ana Alejandra Navarro Palacios
American Association of Public Health Dentistry Achievement in Community Dentistry & Dental Public Health: Jean Calvo
American Association of Women Dentists Eleanor J. Bushee Memorial Award: Lucy Hallajian
American College of Prosthodontics Outstanding Achievement Award: Aditi Garg
American Dental Society of Anesthesiology Outstanding Achievement Award: James Lelis
California Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Certificate of Merit: Caitlyn McGue
California Dental Association Outstanding Senior Award: Sepi Shafa
International Congress of Oral Implantologists Predoctoral Achievement: Adam Wandell
Pierre Fauchard Academy Senior Award and Northern California Section Scholarship: Ruth Jingru Yan
Quintessence Award Clinical Achievement in Periodontics: Karin Elizabeth Vanberg
Quintessence Award Research Achievement: Scott Schames
Quintessence Award Clinical Achievement in Restorative Dentistry: Jeffrey Delgadillo and Lili Szabo
UCSF Pediatric Dentistry Outstanding Student Award: Dien Sun
Western Society of Periodontology Dental Student Award: Ruth Jingru Yan
Whip Mix Award Hanau Best of the Best Prosthodontics Award: Raion Sabo

Awards for Extraordinary Achievement
Delta Dental Student Leadership Award: Mona Nejad
International College of Dentists Humanitarian Award: Danielle Jaul
International College of Dentists Leadership Award: Melissa Milder
Willard C. Fleming Award Excellence in Patient Service: Mark Watanabe
George Hughes Award Excellence in Prosthodontics: Jill Alderfer
Nguyen T. Nguyen Awards Achievement in Endodontics: Joey Nguyen
Minkin Scholarship Award Outstanding Scholastic Achievement: Edward Viloria
Russell J. Newell Award Working While in Dental School: Minerva Loi
San Francisco Dental Society Ethics & Professionalism Award: Raion Sabo
Milton and Mary Gabbs Award Highest Ethical and Professional Behavior: Anastasiya Petrovska
Robert W. Rule Award Highest Potential to Succeed in the Profession: Wendan Li
Francis A. Sooy Cup Outstanding Dental Professional: Rebecca Hsieh

Awards and Scholarships (previously announced)
Regents’ Scholarship: Jasmine Manubay, Caitlyn McGue
Chancellor’s Scholarship: Jean Calvo
Osher Scholarship: Julie Bui, Jean Calvo, Prashant Charugundla, Minerva Loi, Sepi Shafa, Manliu Yang
Derzon Butler Scholarship: Lauren Leza, Fernando Vargas, Tasha Vo
Pierre Fauchard Academy Foundation Dental Student Scholarship Award: Irene Cheng
Delta Dental Award: Jeffrey Delgadillo
Jim & Pam Starr Endowed Scholarship: Amy McFarling
Clinton P. Ulrich Memorial Scholarship: Wendan Li
George H. and Nana J. Weyerhauser Scholarship: Jill Alderfer, Raion Sabo, Edward Viloria
UCSF DAA’s Dean John D. B. Featherstone Scholarship for Community Service: Anastasiya Petrovska
Walter Cooper Scholarship: Wendan Li
Norman Jenssen Scholarship: Lauren Frisch, Amy McFarling
Ted Hall Memorial Scholarship: Edward Viloria
Donnell Fisher Scholarship: Anastasiya Petrovska
James Forge Award: Jenny Garcia
Dr. Thomas and Helen Wu Endowed Scholarship: Wendan Li
Class of 1991 Scholarship: Jeffrey Proniloff
Class of 1976 Scholarship: Edward Viloria

Dr. James Giblin (purple shirt) and a host of students

Melissa Telli has joined the UCSF School of Dentistry as marketing director; her first day was June 12. She succeeds Marc Fredson, who has moved to UCSF Health.

Telli comes to the School of Dentistry from UCSF’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute at the Mission Bay campus, where she led strategic communications and marketing. Prior to coming to UCSF, Telli held marketing positions at a number of technology companies where she gained experience in brand management, digital marketing and marketing communications. 

Here, Telli will focus on marketing efforts for UCSF Dental Center, as well as for the school. Her arrival completes the center’s core management team.

“We are very excited to welcome Melissa to the School of Dentistry and the Dental Center,” said Larisa Kure, associate dean for administration and finance. “We are confident that her skills and experience will help us move the school’s and Dental Center’s brands to the next level.”

L-R: Dean John D.B. Featherstone; D2 student Bronwyn Hagan; Kirsten Drucker, Dentsply Sirona; Jeffrey Bush, PhD; Thomas Lang, PhD, associate dean for research

Second-year dental student Bronwyn Hagan will represent UCSF in the AADR/Dentsply Sirona Student Research Program during the American Association of Dental Research annual session, March 21-24 in Fort Lauderdale.

She will present “The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathways in Secondary Palate Fusion” Her mentor is Jeffrey Bush, PhD. Hagan also won the Ernest Newbrun (first place) Award for Research Excellence at the UCSF 2016 Research and Clinical Excellence Day.

The AADR/Dentsply Sirona Student 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 AADR annual session.

Organic gardeners: Ophir Klein (right) is leading a team of scientists, including Jeffrey Bush (left), who are harnessing stem cells to grow organoids, tiny segments of organs, to understand why craniofacial deformities occur and to develop new treatments. Photo by Steve Babuljak

By Claire Conway

Ophir Klein is growing teeth, which is just slightly less odd than what Jeffrey Bush is growing — tissues that make up the face. Jason Pomerantz is growing muscle; Sarah Knox is growing salivary glands; and Edward Hsiao is printing 3-D bone using a machine that looks about as complex as a clock radio.

Together, these members of the UC San Francisco faculty — most with the School of Dentistry — are cultivating organs of the craniofacial complex — the skull and face — which too often go terribly wrong during fetal development. Deformities of these bones or soft tissues, the most common of birth defects, can cut life short by blocking the airway or circulation. Or they can disfigure a face so profoundly that a child struggles to see, hear, or talk. Perhaps most painful of all, such deformities render children physically other, potentially leading to a lifetime of corrective surgeries and social isolation.

>> Read the complete article, from UCSF Magazine, on UCSF.edu.

Andrei Goga, MD, PhD (inset), is applying his research on breast cancer (cells, pictured) to head and neck cancer. Source: National Cancer Institute

By Andy Evangelista

As a cancer scientist, Andrei Goga, MD, PhD, fixates on genes that disrupt the cell cycle and drive tumor growth. He has conducted laboratory studies in worms, fish and mice.

But Goga widens his research lens and focuses straight into the clinic. “As a medical oncologist, I’ve seen too many patients die of cancer,” he said.

Goga, professor in the School of Dentistry’s Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, has investigated for more than 20 years how certain oncogenes signal and alter cells, creating intricate pathways for tumorgenesis.

He started that research as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of UCSF Chancellor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate J. Michael Bishop, who pioneered studies of the role of oncogenes in cancer. Goga started his own lab in 2007 and recently identified new therapeutic strategies to target oncogenes that play a role in aggressive tumors, including in lung, liver and breast cancer. All the while, he taught students and treated cancer patients at UCSF.

Goga now broadens his studies and co-directs a new School of Dentistry research program in oral, head and neck cancer.

And on June 21, he was honored and officially named the Dr. Arnold and Dianne Gazarian Presidential Chair in Dentistry. The professorship will help support Goga’s cancer research in the Department of Cell and Tissue Biology.

Housing the research in the School of Dentistry is practical, scientifically and clinically. “What we’ve learned in liver and breast tumors is applicable to other tumors, including those in the head and neck,” said Goga.

Head and neck cancer accounts for about 4 percent of all cancers in the U.S. An estimated 65,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with the cancer this year, and it will kill more than 13,000 people, according to data from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

Moreover, dentists play a key role in screening for that cancer, as they are trained to detect symptoms such as lumps and sores in the head, neck or mouth; difficulty swallowing and hoarseness in the voice.

Building collaborations

For the oral, head and neck cancer research program, Goga and co-director Patrick Ha, professor and the chief of head and neck oncologic surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology, have built a collaborative group of 17 experts from the schools of Dentistry and Medicine. They are basic scientists and clinicians from various disciplines — ranging from immunology and endocrinology to radiation oncology and pathology — who share their knowledge.

They hold seminars, on topics such as tumor progression, the possible impact of nerves on head and neck cancer and biomarkers and chemoprevention for the disease.

Researchers in the group have a common goal: to understand the basic mechanisms of cancer and bring their insights and new therapies to the clinic.

Goga has set the bar. In a study published last fall, his laboratory team identified a new drug target for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an often-deadly cancer. Conventional chemotherapy fails to eradicate this particular breast cancer because it metastasizes early and rapidly, and it is not treatable with modern hormonal therapies.

Targeting the culprit: MYC

Goga’s study centered on a specific oncogene, MYC (pronounced “mick”). MYC is implicated in many aggressive cancers, and Goga has found highly-elevated levels of MYC in TBNC tumors.

Because of its physical characteristics and its fundamental role in normal cellular function, MYC had long been considered an “undruggable” protein. Pharmaceutical companies for decades have been unsuccessful in targeting MYC.

But Goga and his team employed an approach to undruggable proteins known as “synthetic lethality,” which involves discovering the other proteins upon which these pharmacologically intractable proteins crucially depend to drive cancer growth.

So, shutting down the activity of responsible proteins becomes a viable strategy in developing drug therapies.

“The next step is to figure out how to bring these findings into early-phase clinical trials with patients, and we’re partnering with pharmaceutical companies to explore this," said Goga.

The research on TNBC is applicable to head and neck cancer, as MYC is amplified in 35 percent of squamous cell head and neck cancers, he said.

Goga’s lab also has identified metabolic pathways and compounds that reverse MYC signaling. So, research is underway to find other drug targets.

These studies are exciting because researchers can now go after these oncogenes and tumor-driving processes specifically and wherever they are in the body, said Goga. “And that’s the name of the game.”

Related links:

• Goga lab
• 60th Anniversary Gift Establishes Gazarian Presidential Professorship

Dean Featherstone's July 2017 column:

Another graduation season has come to a close.

In recent days, we’ve celebrated commencement for our DDS and master’s in dental hygiene students, and feted our students in specialty programs with graduation dinners. Like those in the classes before them, our graduating students have finished this stage of training here, and are embarking on endeavors for which their time here at UCSF has fitted them. They are headed for new phases in their lives.

It’s always a great pleasure for me to experience the commencement ceremony for our DDS and MS programs. We have such an atmosphere of fun, together with the formal and important nature of this activity; similarly with all the postgraduate programs that have graduated their students in the last couple of weeks. (You can view this year’s commencement ceremony on YouTube.)

Reflecting on my years as dean, having seen 10 classes go forth, I look back with a sense of pride on our graduates: how well they’ve been educated, how well prepared they have been, how well they are doing in their lives. I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of our recent graduates at various functions and visits across the country; I’ve heard great stories of their successes, the way they’re continuing their tradition of community service. It is very satisfying to realize that many hundreds of students and trainees have graduated successfully during my time as dean.

These are interesting times in which our students are going forth. It seems each day’s news brings another unexpected event, another sign of the turmoil of our world. However, it’s worth remembering that in our history, there have been times when the world was in even more turmoil. The precipitation of both the First and Second World Wars come to mind.

What does this mean for our graduates? We live in a continually troubled world, but one thing remains constant: our duty to contribute to the wellbeing of people; to be compassionate, caring, regardless of what others might do. We must work on the principle that we each can make a difference to the people around us, to our families, friends, patients and whomever we interact with in our other activities outside of dentistry.

For those of us who teach, it’s even more important that we strive for excellence in all we do to prepare our students and trainees both technically and emotionally. We need to be sure that whatever education we impart or possess, even beyond what we’ve learned or taught in the School of Dentistry, fits us to cope. Not just in our professional lives, but in our personal lives as well.

And life does march on. Just the other day, the new International Dentist Program students arrived here. I was privileged to welcome them to UCSF and San Francisco. These extremely intelligent people, from all over the world, have come to UCSF to enhance their education.

These departures and arrivals signify benchmarks, turning points where one can take one’s education, compassion and caring into the world and make a difference. The Dalai Lama captures this eloquently:

… There is no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is the temple. The philosophy is loving kindness and compassion.

Julia Hwang, director of admissions and outreach, has been tapped to direct the School of Dentistry's new Learner Success Center. 

The center is designed to give educational support to potential applicants, students, faculty and staff, and serve as an umbrella organization for admissions and outreach, curriculum support, and student services. 

"This is a well deserved promotion for Julia, who will be acting as the operational lead across the different work streams of the center," said Sara Hughes, MBE, associate dean for education and student affairs. "We are starting the process of recruiting her backfill to the director of admissions post."

Two additional positions have yet to be filled within the center organization; once filled, there will be a formal launch and sharing of the center's mission and vision and service operations, Dr. Hughes said. Presentations on the center organization structure already have begun at various department meetings.

Related Links:

• Learner Success Center org chart
• Learner Success Center Launches

The UCSF Academic Senate features profiles of UCSF faculty on its website. This month, Jing Cheng, MD, MS, PhD, adjunct professor in the School of Dentistry, was spotlighted.

Jing Cheng, MD, MS, PhD, adjunct professor, Preventive & Restorative Dental Sciences (PRDS), School of Dentistry (SOD), seeks to solve oral health disparities through statistical methodology research. Much of the biostatistician’s work is collaborative research, translating scientific efforts into clinical practice.

“I see an oral health disparity among low-income and even some first-generation immigrants,” Cheng said. “For example, in China some hold a faulty belief that children don’t need to practice oral hygiene, because children’s baby teeth fall out anyway, but actually oral health impacts us at all ages. Recent studies show that there is an association with improper oral health and long-term overall health, like kidney disease.”

While Cheng doesn’t directly interact with patients, she does work alongside researchers through observational studies and randomized trials pertaining to topics including: dentistry, biomedicine, infectious diseases, nursing, pharmacogenomics, and public policy research.

“I typically work with dentists or medical doctors, to help develop analysis plans for identifying what is the best statistical measure and method for their studies in order to answer research questions,” Cheng said.

>> Read the complete profile on the UCSF Academic Senate site.

Chris Cadwell is the new clinic manager for the School of Dentistry's predoctoral clinics. On board since mid-July, Cadwell succeeds Maria Guerra, now director of operations for UCSF Dental Center.

Cadwell comes to UCSF from Houston Methodist Surgical Associates in Houston, Texas. There, he served as operations manager and in other capacities. His responsibilities included management, planning, development, budget, and other administrative activities of an academic clinical and research department with dozens of providers at multiple locations. Cadwell holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from  the University of Texas at Arlington, and expects to complete his master of business administration at Auburn University in December 2018.

Dean John D.B. Featherstone's August column:

When our students graduate from the School of Dentistry, they go on to be many things: private practice clinicians, academicians, researchers, advocates for public health or community dentistry, to name a few. One thing they all become, though, is alumni — now numbering nearly 6,900 living members. For many, that is a distinct point of pride.

I recently attended a gathering in Fresno, hosted by Dianne and alumnus Arnold Gazerian, DDS, that included some 30 alumni, ranging from recent graduates to alumni from the 1950s. It’s always interesting to talk to people at such events about what their education was like, what they’ve done with their lives. Not unexpectedly, those who come to such an event often are particularly loyal to UCSF.

Our alumni from the last couple of decades have tended to be more positive about their experiences at UCSF than in years prior. They convey this in diverse ways.

One recent alumnus, from about four years ago, recently shared with me his story of starting work as a dentist in a federally qualified health center serving an underserved patient base — a passion of his, particularly stemming from his own background as a first-generation college and professional-school graduate. Upon starting at the center, he felt his UCSF education had prepared him exceptionally well, in comparison to other recently-graduated dentists from other schools.

Alumni express their support and gratitude in many other ways. Many support the school financially: from donating $1,000 or more a year to the annual giving fund, to giving very large sums of money to support endowed professorships and scholarships. Of course, we owe many thanks to them for their generosity.

Many others give back in time. A considerable number of our faculty are alumni: Some serve on a part-time basis; many others — more than 200 — serve as volunteers. They perform in a variety of capacities, but the majority teach students in the clinics. Their commitment to educating our next generation of dentists is evident, and we owe them too a debt of gratitude.

Others give their time in service in our Dental Alumni Association (DAA), especially those serving on the board. They spend countless hours, working largely in the background to put on alumni events, support the school with student functions, and spending time with students. The DAA also funds scholarships and provides financial support by way of providing the white coats at the “white coat ceremony” for our DDS students, and donating the class sweatshirts to each incoming dental class. The members truly want to make our students feel a part of the family.

That outreach includes events such as the Bear Bash (usually held in late October or early November), an alumni-student reception and mixer; the annual UCSF Alumni Weekend (set for June 1-2, 2018); and smaller meet-and-greet events coordinated by our DAA student liaison, Michael Lopez, DDS ’74.

It truly has been wonderful, over the course of my 10-year tenure as dean of the UCSF School of Dentistry, to build relationships with our alumni: building friendships, learning where their lives have taken them and how their UCSF education has served them. I will forever treasure the many interactions that I have had with alumni and the fabulous support that I have received for the school from many alumni.

Leon Assael, DMD, has joined the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences of the UCSF School of Dentistry.

Dr. Assael assumes the position of director of community-based education and practice, leading our externship program. He comes to UCSF from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, where he served as dean from 2012-17.

A graduate of Columbia University, Dr. Assael earned his doctor of dental medicine from Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine. He also holds a certificate in medical management from the Gatton School of Business, University of Kentucky. Dr. Assael completed his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Vanderbilt University, and served as dean in the College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky until 2003, when he was appointed professor and chairman of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the School of Dentistry at Oregon Health & Science University.

Dr. Assael serves on many professional organizations, including the American Dental Association and the Hispanic Dental Association. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons awarded Dr. Assael the Board of Trustees special recognition award in 2010; he also is the recipient of the national Gies award for vision from the American Dental Education Association. He currently serves as chair of the ADEA board of directors.

William O. Kuykendall, DDS, a 1984 graduate of the UCSF School of Dentistry, passed away Aug. 13 in Fair Oaks, Calif. He was 60.

Dr. Kuykendall, a native of San Diego, also earned a bachelor’s degree in dental materials from UCSF.  During his student years, he was active in the campus chapter of the Student National Dental Association, holding several positions, including president. Popular among his classmates, he was affectionately known as “William the Likeable.”

A significant part of Dr. Kuykendall’s career was spent within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Health Care Services. There he established the Inmate Dental Services program, became the statewide dental director, and ultimately was chief dentist of training. In July of this year, the San Quentin State Prison dental clinics were renamed in Dr. Kuykendall’s honor. His accomplishments also include serving as an expert examiner for the Dental Board of California, and working for Job Corps.

Dr. Kuykendall is survived by his wife, Yulanda; daughter Nichole Kuykendall; son Jon Paul Kuykendall; stepson Nathaniel Allen III; and many additional relatives. Services were Aug. 19 at Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks.

Family obituary>>