RESEARCH
New OHS MS Degree Program Set to Start The School of Dentistry’s new Oral Health Science master’s degree program is set to welcome its first students in July 2021. The program proposal was initiated by the school in January and subsequently approved by the Executive Board of the Rackham Graduate School and by the Michigan Association of State Universities. Dr. Vesa Kaartinen, Associate Dean for Research, announced in September that Dr. Elisabeta Karl, clinical assistant professor in the department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics, will serve as director of the program. “Her extensive
teaching and mentoring experience as well as her PhD in Oral Health Sciences, from our school, will be a great benefit to the program,” Kaartinen said. “Dr. Karl will be working to build the program through student recruitment, working with faculty to identify mentoring opportunities and funding, and guiding students as they develop their careers in OHS research.” The OHS Master of Science degree, which is unique among dental schools around the country, is intended to prepare students to acquire skills and knowledge necessary for a competitive application to dental school, an application to a PhD training program or for employment in a research laboratory in the field of oral health sciences
and craniofacial research. The program is also designed to enhance diversity among students considering dentistry or research in oral health sciences/craniofacial biology as their future careers. The impetus for the new program relates to the competitive nature of the dental school application process as well as the shortage of a research workforce that engages in dental, oral and craniofacial health sciences. It is a one-year program with 30 credits. Students would begin in July each year and continue through the winter term with a capstone project due at the end of the training. The initial goal of this fall’s student recruitment is to have a pilot class of about four students who will start in July 2021.
Sponsored Research Awards >$50,000 from March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020 NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AND OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES David Kohn and William Gianobile: (U24) $31,440,626. Michigan-Pittsburgh-Wyss Regenerative Medicine Resource Center: Advancing Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Regeneration to Clinical Trial Initiation, Stage 2. Renny Franceschi: (Department of Defense) $1,218,970. Novel Strategy for Bone Tissue Engineering Using Nanofibrous Osteogenic Collagen Peptides (collaborative award with Dr. Kuroda). Kenichi Kuroda: (Department of Defense) $1,119,353. Novel Strategy for Bone Tissue Engineering Using Nanofibrous Osteogenic Collagen Peptides (collaborative award with Dr. Franceschi). Alex DaSilva: (R01) $1,089,292 (estimated portion of $3.8 million grant as Co-PI with Anesthesiology Department at Michigan Medicine, awarded in September 2019). Explosive Synchronization of Brain Network Activity in Chronic Pain. 14 RESEARCH M Dentistry | Fall 2020
Kenichi Kuroda: (R21) $429,000. A pH-Responsive Smart Copolymer for Selective Removal of Cariogenic Oral Biofilms. Kenichi Kuroda: (NSF) $350,000. Polymer Conjugates That Adapt Vancomycin to Overcome Resistance in Gram-negative Bacteria. Ann Decker: (K99/R00) $278,640. GAS6-Mediated Regulation of Oral Tissue Regeneration. Yuji Mishina (Mentor/U-M PI) and Ke’ale Louie (Fellow): (F30) $56,284. Role of Genetically Determined Dental Abnormalities on Masticatory Performance and Adaptation in an Animal Model of Ellis van Creveld Syndrom.
FOUNDATIONS, INDUSTRY and OTHER AWARDS Lorenzo Tavelli: Delta Dental Foundation, $72,000. The Effect of Recombinant Human Platelet-Derived Growth Factor in Combination With Collagen Matrix for the Treatment of Multiple Adjacent Gingival Recessions: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Back in the Labs – Dr. Min Liu, a research specialist in the lab of Dr. Nisha D’Silva, works with samples in a fume hood in late October. Labs at the dental school and elsewhere on the U-M campus have reopened with restrictions after being shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring. Pandemic protocols set by campus research administrators limit the number of researchers based on a lab’s square footage, so most are at less than 100 percent of their pre-pandemic staffing. Researchers must wear masks and request a social-distancing exemption for specialized projects where researchers must be in close proximity to each other.
