Student Research Group
Dr. John CusickIt has been a busy time for the SRG, here is a summary of recent and future events. On August 30th the SRG elected new student officers that will come into effect after the next AADR meeting in the spring of 2007;
New Officers
Benjamin Foley (DS2) will take over for current President Benjamin Howard (DS3).
Peter Carlson (DS2) will take over for current Vice President Roxanna Swartz (DS3).
Roxanna Swartz will take over for current Secretary Lina Kulkarni (DS3).
Jacob Johnson (DS3) will take over for current Treasurer Richard Bentley (DS3).
 SRG Poster Presentation |
Welcoming Event
A welcoming event was held on September 6th, current SRG members discussed their posters and the SRG to incoming students over pizza. On September 26th, the SRG held a research competition to decide which students would attend upcoming meetings and events.
- Roxanna Swartz's research mentored by Dr. Sheldon Newman titled; "Dentin Bond Strength of Heated Resin/Composite Restorations to Single-plane Shear Forces" placed first in the event. Roxanna was awarded with a trip to the Midwest Regional SRG meeting to be held at the University of Iowa in April of 2007.
- Maddie Saunders' (DS1) research mentored by Dr. Kristin Artinger and Dr. David Clouthier titled; "The Role of prdm1 and hand2 in Craniofacial Development" placed second. Maddy was awarded with a trip to the upcoming AADR meeting to be held in New Orleans next spring (Roxanna and Benjamin Howard are also presenting at AADR via funds acquired by Dr. Newman and Dr. Jeff Stansbury).
- Roxanna Swartz and Peter Carlson recently attended the Hinman Student Research Symposium held at the University of Tennessee in Memphis in October, and Benjamin Foley was our representative at the annual DENTSPLY meeting in Las Vegas that was also held in October.
Dr. David Wong
Dr. David Wong from UCLA gave a fascinating seminar on October 3rd concerning the use of saliva as a diagnostic tool for detecting markers of oral cancer and other systemic diseases at the earliest stages. Dr. Wong is constructing hand-held devices that will soon be available for the practicing dentist to rapidly and easily diagnose markers for oral cancer and other diseases via saliva samples. Dr. Wong's results indicate that saliva can be a more accurate diagnostic tool for many diseases than blood samples. In short, Dr. Wong has proven once and for all that SPIT is good!
Research Forum
The UCDHSC annual research forum will be held on January 26th from 1-4 PM. Last year was the first year the School of Dentistry participated in this annual event, and two dental students (Benjamin Foley and Peter Carlson) each won a $250 prize for their poster presentations. Students interested in participating in the poster presentation should contact John Cusick.
Research Day
The American Association for Dental Research Annual Research Day will be held on the morning of February 21st. Our invited speakers are two new Faculty members here at the School of Dentistry; Dr. Ray Yukna of the Periodontics department, and Dr. David Clouthier of the Craniofacial Department. Selected students will also present their research and awards for dental students will be announced. All students with new research data are encouraged to present their data at the poster session. Additionally, a Research Day competition will be held to decide which dental students are awarded with trips to future meetings such as DENTSPLY and other sponsored events. There will also be a SRG meeting in early March to invite new students to join and to invite Faculty members to present their ideas with regards to research projects available.