Dean's Message

What a whirlwind the my first 14 days have been. I'm continuing my listening tour, from our Open Forum on Monday to meeting with departments, and our student, staff, and faculty leaders. I am enjoying getting acquainted or reacquainted with you, and I look forward to meetings with individuals in the coming weeks. As we start on this new adventure, we are using this weekly communication piece to focus on positive, aspirational changes, events or awards of our phenomenal students, staff, residents, and faculty   ~Clark Stanford

Updates for April 15, 2022–April 21, 2022

Iowa Pediatric Dentist Making a Difference for Low-Income Cavity Prevention

The National Institutes of Health awarded Karin Weber-Gasparoni and her team a $4.4 million grant to evaluate a set of interventions designed to improve oral health care and reduce the risk of cavities among low-income high-caries risk infants and young children.

The Importance and Service of D4 Adjunct Faculty

For Iowa dental students, their fourth-year curriculum simulates aspects of a private practice environment. This experience successfully prepares Iowa graduates to practice dentistry independently. The approximately thirty adjunct faculty in Family Dentistry are the engine for Iowa’s success. These faculty members mentor fourth-year students as they go from novice clinical beginners to competent and independent clinicians.

Why Iowa: We Produce the Best Dentists

Newly minted alumni throughout Iowa's history have routinely heard from their colleagues—whether in the military, graduate programs, or private practice—that “we know you will hit the ground running because you’re from Iowa.” Prospective students apply to and choose to attend Iowa because they too have heard that message consistently around the dental profession. Keep it up, Hawkeyes!

Dental Student Appointed to ASDA National Leadership Team

Second-year dental student Arshi Munjal was appointed as a national leader of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA), representing District 8. She will be serving on the Council of Professional Issues (COPI). Before her appointment on COPI, she served ASDA in other leadership roles including District 8 and IASDA DEI Committees. As a Council on Professional Issues representative, she will serve the association as a resource on community engagement and dental outreach.

Weber-Gasparoni Receives Finkbine Award

On April 12, Karin Weber-Gasparoni, professor and chair of Pediatric Dentistry, was presented with the University of Iowa's Hancher-Finkbine Medallion for Faculty Excellence. Weber-Gasparoni is the fifth dentistry-affiliated faculty member to earn the award since its inception in 1967.

Dental Student Research Alumni Interview: Julie Reynolds

Julie Reynolds is an assistant professor in Preventive and Community Dentistry and a vocal supporter of the Dental Student Research Program. She regularly mentors current dental students in the program.

Ingleshwar Earns Leverett Graduate Student Merit Award

Aparna Ingleshwar was awarded first place for the 2022 Leverett Graduate Student Merit Award by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry for Outstanding Achievement in Dental Public Health.

Christopher Hogden to Join the Faculty in Endodontics

Christopher Hogden obtained his DDS degree from The University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics in 2018. He spent two years completing a research fellowship in the laboratory of Éva Mezey at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH-NIDCR) before returning to our college to enroll in the Advanced Program in Endodontics. Currently, he serves as a Fellow Associate in the Department and will officially take over his new position as an Assistant Professor on June 30, 2022.

Iowa Faculty Have One of the Top Cited Articles in Journal of Dental Education

Elangovan S, Mahrous A, Marchini L. Disruptions during a pandemic: Gaps identified and lessons learned. J Dent Educ. 2020 Nov;84(11):1270-1274. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12236. Epub 2020 Jun 4. PMID: 32500586; PMCID: PMC7301023.

The article summarizes some of the disruptions caused by COVID‐19 in dentistry and dental education, and the ways in which dental schools adapted the dental educational experience to meet the needs of students given the constraints of the pandemic. The authors conclude, "There is no replacement for hands‐on clinical experience, but this crisis brought to light several avenues that, if strategically incorporated into the pre‐ and post‐doctoral curricula... can strengthen our dental education system to better cope with future unexpected scenarios."

Iowa Trailblazers: The Iowa Facial Growth Study

L. Bodine Higley graduated with a DDS from Iowa in 1926, he was promptly hired by the college to assist with predoctoral clinical teaching and developing a new orthodontics graduate program. At Iowa, he developed ground-breaking research with the Iowa Facial Growth Study. This study still provides data for research today. 

Events

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 10, Oral Science Graduate Program Celebration, W220A, 4:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

May 12, MS Thesis Defense: Manila Shinde, "Evaluation of performance of deep learning algorithms in detecting and diagnosing dental carious lesions using dental intraoral radiographic imaging: a systemic review and meta-analysis," mentored by Trishul Allareddy, N212, 8:00 a.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.

Notes and Resources

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.  

Cariology Research Award

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 today on April 15, 2022. More details are available on the American Academy of Cariology website.

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