School Celebrates 30 Years of Training Research Scientists in its PhD Program

The importance of scientific inquiry related to oral health was celebrated at the School of Dentistry Oct. 4 as the school marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of its PhD program.

In the three decades since the program’s inception in 1993, the school has conferred 54 PhD degrees in Oral Health Sciences to students from around the country and the world. Most of the graduates have gone on to become faculty and researchers in academia or to lead research programs in various health-related fields.

About 20 alumni of the program returned to the school to join with current and former faculty and administrators, and trainees now in the program, for the series of presentations and panel discussions during the day-long seminar. They discussed the history of the program and oral health research in general; the importance of maintaining and funding strong scientific research programs at the university and federal levels; and how effective faculty mentoring is crucial to the success of PhD trainees, the faculty themselves and scientific research.

A program of the U-M Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the PhD program in the School of Dentistry was designed to strengthen basic, translational and clinical research training by building on the school’s longstanding reputation as an international leader in dental, oral and craniofacial research.

Dr. Yuji Mishina, director of the program, presented a summary showing the diversity of students who have passed through the program in 30 years. Slightly more than half have been female students, with students coming to Ann Arbor from 13 countries beyond the United States, including China, Brazil, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany and Peru. The majority have gone on to faculty or post-doc positions after graduation; others became clinicians or work for health-related companies.

U-M Provost Laurie McCauley, the former dean of the dental school, was one of numerous speakers during the day who thanked and praised Dr. Charlotte Mistretta, the faculty member who designed the program from its inception and served as its first director for 17 years from 1993 through 2010. “She built this program with care and attention, and was incredibly methodical in her approaches,” recalled McCauley, who was an assistant professor and researcher in the dental school at that time. “This program would not be in existence without your dedication in launching it.”

Over the last 30 years, Mistretta was followed as director by faculty members Jan Hu, Vesa Kaartinen and Yuji Mishina, the current director.

In his introduction of Mistretta, Kaartinen, now Associate Dean for Research, credited her with setting up a structure to the PhD program that ensured its success through the present day. He presented awards of appreciation to Mistretta and Patricia Schultz, business manager of the Research Office, who helped implement the program in its early days and solved countless problems as they arose in the early years. Mistretta, who is the William R. Mann Professor Emerita of Dentistry in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics, spoke to the history of the program, including the importance of academic advisors and faculty mentors who worked closely with each PhD student; the generous support of school administrators and faculty as the program was created and grew in its early years; the creation of a Seminar Series and a Journal Club so that students could meet leading researchers and become more familiar with publishing research; and many other aspects. She noted several facets of the mission of the program that continue today:

• To train outstanding students to become advanced research scientists in their field of specific interest within the oral health sciences.

• Provide students with an understanding of the functional, structural and molecular properties of the oral region.

• Lead research in developmental craniofacial biology, mineralized tissue biology and musculoskeletal disorders, oral and pharyngeal cancer, oral infectious and immunologic diseases, oral sensory systems and central circuits, and tissue engineering and regeneration.

• Prepare dental scientists who will be strong candidates for faculty positions in dental schools at major research universities.

The first students were an international mix. In 1994, the first four students were Hongjiao Ouyang from China; Brazil native Jacques Nör, who had just completed his master’s degree in pediatric dentistry at the dental school; Esam Tashkandi from Saudi Arabia who joined the program after earning his master’s degree in prosthodontics at the school; and Somjin Ratanasathien from Thailand. By 2000, the number of students had grown to 17, approximately the same number in the program today.

Mistretta said an integral part of setting up the program and getting off to a strong start was the hire of Patricia Schultz as Research Office business manager. “She had to build an office, along with ties to Rackham, peer programs across campus and nationally, and ties with the university’s Office of Vice President for Research. But she also had to build trust with our students, and along the way make sure we had funding. Most importantly, Pat set a tone for that office. The tone was never, ‘We couldn’t do that.’ The tone was ‘What are we going to do? How do you do it? And, do it.’ That was Pat and that was our office.”

As the program grew, it eventually added dual degrees for students who wanted to earn their DDS degree or master’s degree in one of the dental specialties at the same time they were earning their PhD.

For both the start of the PhD program and during its evolution over the 30 years, Mistretta said it has always been about the contributions of many talented people dedicated to the success of the students, the program and the dental school. “To have some backing, have some support, to have people who want to think it through, and people who really are acting on principles and excellence – that’s what we had and still have,” Mistretta said. “And every time one of the students is excellent, we can find satisfaction in that.”

“In the end, it’s about our trainees,” she said. “That’s the deal – taking them to excellence and maintaining them and always being there with them.”

In his closing remarks, Dean Jacques Nör said many people deserve thanks for the success of the PhD program, especially Mistretta. “Charlotte had the vision and the drive with a blank canvas in front of her to develop what we have today,” he said. “In the beginning, there was no template for this. Charlotte embraced the challenge and she had the courage to take this forward, bringing students from all over the world.

As we see these presentations today, and see who is in the audience today, the program transformed so many lives.”

Nör urged attendees to continue to advocate for scientific research and federal funding related to oral health research, and for PhD training programs to ensure an adequate supply of research faculty around the country.

“We have a tremendous responsibility for all the dental schools that are research intensive to continue to develop talent and continue to train scientists, to continue to train dentists who care about evidence, to continue to strengthen our PhD programs,” Nör said. “Our commitment here in this school is a very strong commitment to the PhD program, a commitment to work together with the PhD leadership to make this program ever stronger, to continue this legacy that Charlotte started and now we have this responsibility to continue.”