Science Day, A Winning Event for GSDM
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) Science Day kicked off on March 26 with a wide variety of research presented in poster form by predoctoral students and postdoctoral students and fellows in the hallway outside of the 670 Auditorium. On hand to view the research was Boston University Associate Provost and Vice President for Research Dr. Andrei Ruckenstein along with Dean Jeffrey Hutter, Professor and Director of the Predoctoral Research Program Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska, the poster presentation judges, and supportive GSDM students, faculty, and staff.
After difficult deliberation Hanny Hamoui DMD 11 was selected as the predoctoral poster winner for his work, “Role of Lysyl Oxidase Propeptide in inhibiting EGF and FGF-2 functions in Oral Cancer cells.” Hamoui worked with Research Assistant Professor Dr. Amitha Palamakumbura and Professor Dr. Philip Trackman in the Department of Periodontology and Oral Biology on his research.
Jehan AlHumaid DPH 11 was chosen as the postdoctoral student poster winner for her work, “Meta-analysis and Review on the Effectiveness of Different Xylitol Products in Caries Prevention.” AlHumaid worked with Mohamed Bamashmous DPH 10 and Professor and Director of the Division of Dental Public Health Dr. Ana Karina Mascarenhas in the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Research on her research.
Research Associate Dr. Richárd Szmola was chosen as the winner in the postdoctoral fellow poster category for his work with Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology Dr. Miklós Sahin-Tóth. His poster was titled, “”A Pancreatitis-Associated Chymotrypsinogen C Mutant Elicits Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Aproptosis.”
Following lunch Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Immunobiology Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Denise Faustman discussed her thought provoking yet controversial approach to curing type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases during her keynote lecture, which attracted a large crowd and news channel NECN.
After the keynote lecture, the celebration of scientific research continued with a series of oral research presentations given by predoctoral students and postdoctoral students and fellows.
Shravan Kumar Renapurkar DMD 10 was selected as the predoctoral oral presentation winner for his presentation, “Osteomyelitis of the Mandible: Analysis of Treatment Outcomes.” Renapurkar worked with Abhishek Mogre OMFS 11 and Associate Professor Dr. Pushkar Mehra in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery on his research.
Georges Traboulsi PERIO 11 was chosen as the postdoctoral student oral presentation winner for his presentation, “Statherin: Secretion and Degradation in the Oral Fluid Environment.” Traboulsi worked with Department of Periodontology and Oral Biology Research Associate Xiuli Sun ORAL BIO 08, Assistant Professor Dr. Erdjan Salih, Professor and Chair Dr. Frank Oppenheim, and Associate Professor Dr. Eva Helmerhorst. Dr. Sun was also selected as the winner of the postdoctoral fellow oral presentation category for her work, “Mass Spectrometric Identification of Whole Saliva Proteases Involved in Salivary Protein Degradation.” She also worked with Drs. Salih, Oppenheim, and Helmerhorst on this research.
In a separate category, the ADA/Dentsply Award was presented to Courtney Brady DMD 11 for her presentation, “Evaluating Program White Coat a Dental Pipeline Program for Children.” Brady worked with Program White Coat organizers Assistant Director of APEX and Extramural Programs Ms. Kathy Held and Dr. Mascarenhas.
Twenty-three vendors from a wide range of dental companies and organizations also set up tables in the Dental School cafeteria to meet with Science Day participants and members of the GSDM community. They answered questions, promoted products, and distributed free samples.
“This year’s Science Day was a great success,” said Dean Jeffrey Hutter. “Research from many different areas of the School was presented in an interesting and thought provoking way and I was very pleased to see people from the local Boston and Boston University science communities in attendance. I look forward to honoring the winners from each category at Science Night.”
Science Night will be held on Friday, April 17 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. See the Announcements for more details.
Photos from the Science Day are available on GSDM’s flickr account and also on the GSDM Facebook page. You must have full web access to view the flickr account, but do not need a personal Facebook account to view photos on the Facebook page.