Announcements
The Fourth Anual School of Dentistry Scholars' Symposium
January 28, 2009 The School of Dentistry will host its' Fourth Annual Scholars' Symposium on Wednesday, March 4, 2009. The Scholars' Symposium consists of a Poster Competition for students and others conducting research in Oral Health in either Basic Science or Clinical Research; and a lecture session with the an esteemed researcher in Oral Biology and another invited speaker.
The Robert and Ann Taylor Fund endows our Oral Biology Lecturer. This year Dr. Mina Mina from the University of Connecticutt will present the Keynote Lecture on her topic "Progenitor and stem cells in postnatal dental pulp." Dr. Mina, a native of Iran, graduated with her Dentistry degree from the National University of Iran in 1978. She continued her education at Case Western Reserve University, graduating in 1983 with her Master of Science in Dentistry. In 1990 she completed her formal education with her PhD in Biomedical Science/Oral Biology at the University of Connecticut Health Center. She is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Connecticut, along with being Chair of the Division of Pediatric Dentistry-Department of Craniofacial Biology and Director of the Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Graduate Program. In 2006 she was awarded the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award and in 2008 the University of Connecticut Board of Directors Faculty Recognition Award.
Dr. Rosa Serra of the UAB Department of Cell Biology is our other invited speaker. Dr. Serra will lecture on "TGF-beta signaling in skeletal development. " Dr. Serra received her B.S. in Biology from St. Louis University; follwed by her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology/ Biochemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. She concluded her formal education with her Postdocal position at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Dr. Serra has been awarded grants from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease, and Arthritis Foundation.
The Scholars' Symposium Poster Competition will be held in the UAB Hospital West Pavilion Atrium. The Lectures and Awards Ceremony will be held in the Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium. (Click on the title above to go to the Scholars' Symposium webpage).
UAB School of Dentistry Professor Noel K. Childers, DDS, PhD Received the 2008 IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in Oral Biology
07/02/2008 (IADR adapted) The 2008 Research in Oral Biology Award was presented to Dr. Noel Childers, the Joseph Volker Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry. The award was presented by the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) at its 86th General Session & Exhibition in Toronto, ON, Canada on July 2, 2008.
Dr. Childers' research has contributed to the understanding of the potential for mucosal immune responses to influence infection and disease in the oral cavity. Throughout his career, he has taken discoveries in antigen delivery and applied them to research in humans, especially in the area of dental caries vaccine development. Dr. Childers has also maintained a continuing research program assessing the prevalence of dental disease in children, with special emphasis on the correlation of mutans streptococcal infections with the eruption of primary and secondary teeth.
With more than 50 publications, Dr. Childers currently supervises a large project in Liposomal Recombinant Vaccine and Caries Immunity, and another project exploring Epidemiology of Dental Caries and Immunity in Children, funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), to investigate host/parasite relationships in the pathogenesis and epidemiology of dental caries in high-caries-risk populations.
Sponsored by Church & Dwight Company, the Research in Oral Biology Award is one of the 16 IADR Distinguished Scientist Awards and is one of the highest honors bestowed by the IADR. The award consists of a cash prize and plaque and recognizes outstanding research in the field of oral biology.
About the International Association for Dental Research
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a non-profit organization with more than 10,500 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge to improve oral health, (2) supporting the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings for the improvement of oral health worldwide.
To learn more about the IADR, visit www.iadr.org.
UAB School of Dentistry Student Elected to Board of the National Student Research Group of the AADR
5/27/2008 Nathaniel (Nate) Lawson (SOD Class of 2011, 2nd Year DMD/PhD Program) has been elected to serve as President-elect of the National Student Research Group (NSRG) of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR). Nate will serve as President-elect until the conclusion of the 2009 IADR/AADR meeting in Miami, Florida. At that time Nate will become President.
Nate is excited to be able to represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry in such an auspicious organization. He is especially excited to speak for the future dental and oral health scientist which his organization represents, and will as President be able to represent them on the AADR Board and Council.
UAB School of Dentistry Students Receive Bloc Travel Awards
4/21/2008 Five UAB School of Dentistry students have received Bloc Travel Awards by the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), to attend the General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in Toronto, Ontario, July 2-5, 2008.
The Travel Award for these 5 students represents 10% of the total awards, the most for any U.S. school.
The awards were given to:
Lisa Irish (SOD Class of 2010) - presenting a poster for her research project: "Ameloblastin Mutations in Dental Oral Tumors".
Ejvis Lamani (SOD Class of 2011, 3rd Year DMD/PhD student in Microbiology) - presenting a poster for her research project: "NFI-C Protein Expression Associated with Tooth Root Formation". Ms. Lamani will also be presenting her research in the Pulp Biology Session.
Nathaniel Lawson (SOD Class of 2011, 2nd Year DMD/PhD student in Biomedical Engineering) - presenting a poster for his research project: "Evaluation of Bond Strength with the Immediate Dentinal Sealing Technique".
Mary Beth Wilson (First Year DMD/PhD student in Biomedical Engineering) - presenting a poster on her research project: "Effect of Bone MJorphogenetic Proteins on Dental Pulp Differentiation". Ms. Wilson will also be presenting her research orally in the Pulp Biology Session.
Dr. Xueming (Eric) Zhang (SOD Class of 2011) - presenting a poster on his research project: "Early Enamel Maturation observed in VDR Deficient Mice".