Gies Award Presentation

During the 2022 ADEA Annual Session on March 21, the ADEAGies Foundation presented the University of Iowa with a 2022 William J. Gies Award for Achievement for Academic Dental Institutions. This award recognizes Iowa’s cutting-edge Geriatric and Special Needs Program, led by director Howard Cowen, the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation Professor in Geriatrics and Special Needs. The success of the program is a testament to the efforts of our administration, faculty, and students to make a difference for some of our most vulnerable patients. 

An Interview with Dean Stanford

Clark Stanford graciously sat down for an interview to discuss how it feels to be back at Iowa and his priorities over the coming weeks and months.

Why Iowa: First Year Highlights

As we near the end of the academic year, it's important to reflect on how far we've come—especially the Class of 2025—as they near the end of their first year. From a vast breadth of new knowledge to building a tight-knit community, from your first time working with your hands in the Sim clinic to murder mystery parties, here are some highlights of the first year of dental school at Iowa.

First Bernstein Graduate Research Fellow Awarded PhD

Aparna Ingleshwar was the first Public Policy Center graduate research fellow supported through the Bernstein Professorship to earn her PhD this past December. Dr. Ingleshwar’s dissertation was titled, “Evaluating the dental care access impacts of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and the supplemental nutrition assistance program among low-income adults in the U.S.” The fellowship supported Ingleshwar’s stipend; tuition; research related expenses like data collection and travel; and professional development opportunities. Her committee was chaired by Pete Damiano, the Morris Bernstein Endowed Professorship of Dentistry and Director of the Public Policy Center. 

Congratulations, Dr. Awotoye!

Congratulations to Dr. Waheed Awotoye for successfully defending his PhD thesis Contribution of genetic variants to orofacial clefts in African populations on April 4. He was mentored by Azeez Butali, professor in the Oral Pathology, Radiology, and Medicine. Butali expressed how proud he was of Awotoye's work. 

D4s: National Signing Day April 15

National Signing Day at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry will be on Friday, April 15. This is an opportunity for the class of 2022 to Level Up their ADA membership from student to dentist. Whether going into practice or graduate school/residency training, you will enjoy free membership through 2023 in the ADA. For those staying in Iowa, Iowa Dental Association (IDA) and the local district membership are also free through 2023. Complete the online form at ADA.org/signingday in advance and during the lunch and learn on organized dentistry presented by IDA President, Dr. Zach Kouri in Galagan B from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 15.

All D4’s who register for National Signing Day may pick up your goodie bag, including The Chairside Instructor, A Visual Guide to Case Presentations following the presentation. If 95 percent or more of your class completes the form, online or in-person, your ASDA chapter will receive $500 for the class of 2022.  We hope to see you on April 15. Contact the IDA staff if you have any questions about National Signing Day or issues completing the online form.

Scholarship Open to D3s

The Iowa Dental Foundation (IDF) is currently accepting scholarship applications. All dental (D3s), dental hygiene, dental assistant, and dental lab technician students are encouraged to apply. Dental students may receive up to $5,000 and all other dental professional students up to $750. The total number of scholarships awarded and amounts vary each year. For more information or to see past awardees, visit the IDF webpage. Completed applications must be submitted by May 1, 2022.  

Ettinger R, Marchini L, Zwetchkenbaum S. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Oral Health of Patients with Special Needs. Dent Clin North Am. 2022 Apr;66(2):181-194. doi: 10.1016/j.cden.2022.01.001. Epub 2022 Jan 10. PMID: 35365272; PMCID: PMC8743596.

April 8, CE Live Distance Course: Evidence-Based Dentistry and Treatment Planning for the Practicing Dentist, 8:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

April 12, Research Seminar: Jingwei Xie – University of Nebraska, "Electrospun Nanofibers for Cranial and Alveolar Bone Generation," hosted by Liu Hong, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

April 14, University District Dental Society Spring Business Meeting, Dental Prosthetic Services, Cedar Rapids, IA, 6:00 p.m.

April 14, MS Thesis Defense: Danubio Blen, "Why do dental students choose a specific state to work or to specialize on," mentored by Terry Lindquist, via Zoom, 12:00 p.m.

April 18, PhD Dissertation Defense: Miyuraj Harishchandra Hikkaduwa Withanage, "A Novel Machine Learning Framework for Disease-associated Microbiome Interaction Identification," mentored by Erliang Zeng, W220A and via Zoom, 9:00 a.m.

April 18 and April 25, Phase 1 Safe Zone Training, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

April 19, German Immigration to the United States: The History and Heritage of Iowa's Role in the Suppression of German-Americanism," 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

April 19, Rogerio Castilho - University of Michigan, "Epithelial cells in homeostasis and tissue regeneration, an epigenetic perspective," hosted by Carlos Garaicoa Pazmino, Galagan C, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

April 26, Brian Foster – Ohio State University, "Key Regulators of Periodontal Mineralization: Lessons for Tissue Repair and Regeneration," hosted by Eric Van Otterloo, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

April 28, New Dentist Reception at the Iowa Dental Association Annual Session, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA, 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.

April 29, University of Iowa Alumni Reception at the Iowa Dental Association Annual Session, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

April 28­-29, Business of Dentistry Track at the Iowa Dental Association Annual Session, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA

May 6 and 13, Phase 2 Safe Zone Training, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

May 31, MS Thesis Defense: Olajide Obe, "Interaction of dental pulp stem cells with bacterial products modulates the protein expression of cathepsin B," mentored by Cristina Vidal, N212, 12:00 p.m.

June 2, Culturally Responsive Health Care Conferences at the University of Iowa, 8:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

Pre-doctoral students (DDS/DMD candidates) and Master’s students (2 or 3 year programs) who wish to undertake novel Cariology research are invited to apply for the new Student Research Award sponsored by the American Academy of Cariology (AAC). The application opened on February 9, 2022, and closes on April 15, 2022. More details are available on the American Academy of Cariology website.

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