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The School of Dentistry celebrated its 41st Annual Research and Clinical Symposium this February in the Holly Auditorium and Foyer. After being held virtually for the previous two years, this symposium welcomed full attendance for the more than 35 oral and poster research presentations by pre-doctoral, doctoral and post-doctoral students, residents, dental and dental hygiene students, and dental faculty.

The symposium opened with remarks from Georgios Kotsakis, DDS, MS, treasurer SA-AADOCR and Dean Peter Loomer, BSc, DDS, PhD, MRCD(C), FACD. Distinguished keynote speaker Lawrence A. Tabak, DDS, PhD, acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), presented “The View from NIH: Many Challenges, Many Opportunities”. During his presentation, Tabak shared his own personal story; valuable NIH information, such as support and resources for students; the process for funding review and allocation; new NIH projects and future initiatives and closed with very useful information for everyone in attendance, his formula for success and the top 10 things he has learned.

Participants took the stage for their oral presentations followed by poster presentations in the foyer. Dean Loomer welcomed everyone back to the auditorium at 11:30 to announce the winners. Kotsakis and Brij B. Singh, PhD, associate dean for research, greeted the winners on stage and distributed the awards.

2023 School of Dentistry Research and Clinical Symposium Awardees

Oral Presentations

Dental Student: Saima Karimi Khan “The Attitudes and Use of Smokeless Tobacco Among the Refugee and Immigrant Population: A Guide for Providers”

Dental Resident: Kaleb Clark “A comparative assessment of peri-implantitis progression and radiographic bone healing in titanium and zirconia implants.”

PhD: Jaclyn Nicole Merlo “Sex-dependent Differences in the Genomic Profile of Lingual Sensory Neurons in Naïve and Tongue-Tumor Bearing Mice”

Poster Presentations
1st Place

Dental Student: Sydney Dayoung Chung “AAV-mediated ATG5 Overexpression Reduces Paclitaxel-induced Hyperalgesia via Autophagic Flux Regulation”

Dental Resident: Nicholas F. Dybdal-Hargreaves “One-Year Success Rate of the GentleWave Irrigation Procedure Compared to Conventional Needle Irrigation Procedure for Non-Surgical Root Canal Treatment”

Masters Candidate: Rayane Farah “Remineralization of Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) with a Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste: an in-situ study:

PhD: Grace Samenuk “Fatty Acid Derived Biomarkers to Predict Acute Post-Surgical Pain”

Poster Presentations
2nd Place

Dental Student: Sarah Bellusa “Development of an Antimicrobial Hard Denture Reline Material”

Dental Resident: Mackenzie Hatfield Cvelich “Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Investigative Mouthwashes to Repair Acid-eroded Tooth Surface”

The School of Dentistry would like to thank the San Antonio Chapter of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research, Office of the Dental Dean, Office of Vice President for Research, Omicron Kappa Upsilon, American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and Dentsply Sirona for their dedication and sponsorship of this annual event.