Welcome to the latest issue of Insight, a newsletter celebrating the accomplishments of our community of scholars. We aim to spotlight insights from people at the Dugoni School working in all areas of scholarship, including clinical or biomedical research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, improvement of the health care system, and professional partnerships that advance the field.
Dugoni School Students Take First-Ever “Dentist-Scientist Oath” to Ethics and Professionalism in Research
Students at University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry expressed their commitment to the highest ideals of ethics and professionalism in research when they took the “Dentist-Scientist Oath” during a recent ceremony held at the school.
The August 20 event was the first of its kind at the Dugoni School and possibly the first research-specific oath ceremony ever held at a dental school in the world, according to faculty organizers. Students in the Doctor of Dental Surgery Class of 2026 and the International Dental Studies Class of 2025 participated in the ceremony.
“The Dentist-Scientist Oath was inspired by my mentor Dr. Karen Davis, world-renowned neuroscientist at the University of Toronto, who developed an oath for scientists that emphasized the importance of community, professionalism and ethical conduct in research,” said Dr. David Lam, oath creator. “We embraced Dr. Davis’ and colleagues’ original declarations of pride, integrity and knowledge pursuit, and further declared the importance of inclusion in research to produce knowledge that is applicable to all people.”
The students recently completed the Pacific-Stanford PRIMED Fundamentals of Clinical Research program held over the past year by the Dugoni School in partnership with faculty from Stanford University. The mandatory, formalized training included 20 hours of instruction in the best practices in conducting high-quality clinical research. Faculty members from both the Dugoni School and Stanford were part of the development of the program. The students will be awarded a certificate of completion from Stanford to recognize their participation in the training.
Research and Scholarship
The training is supported by a $3.8 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health to fund the Pacific-Stanford PRIMED Program. PRIMED’s goal is to train the next generation of clinical oral health researchers to be equipped to translate research into practice. The program also aims to grow more clinician-scientists in the workforce.
“The dentist-scientist oath ceremony was a profound reminder of the responsibility we carry as both clinicians and researchers,” said Tyler West, a member of the DDS Class of 2026. “It reinforced the importance of conducting research with integrity and a commitment to advancing patient care. Participating in the research training at our school has been incredibly rewarding, as it provides the tools and opportunities to make a meaningful impact in the field of dentistry.”
“During my time here, I’ve seen that the Dugoni School doesn’t just put humanistic ideals on a placard, but instead strives to live up to those values in everything that they do,” added Arick Christopher, a member of the DDS Class of 2026. “I see the dentist-scientist oath ceremony as an extension of those ideals and a reminder of the importance of morality and thoughtfulness in the research process. I am thrilled to have been a part of the ceremony, and ecstatic for the opportunity provided to further my research training with Stanford.”
“We are proud of our faculty and students at the Dugoni School of Dentistry for their deep commitment to both the art and science of dentistry,” said Dr. Nader A. Nadershahi, dean of the Dugoni School and vice provost at the university. “This dentist-scientist oath celebrates their commitment to integrity and inclusion as we work together to advance our great profession.”
Recent Grants
Congratulations to Cassio Coutinho Almeida da Silva (Department of Biomedical Sciences) for being awarded a Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) grant for $810,000.
In this project, he will investigate how tobacco affects infection and inflammation in the oral cavity. He will evaluate levels of infection and inflammation in patients who vape, smoke combustible cigarettes, and/or have periodontitis.
His characterization of cellular pathways will help better understand the mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of tobacco-related periodontitis and may raise the possibility of targeting different proteins therapeutically for treatment of smoking-induced diseases.
Congratulations to Der Thor (Department of Biomedical Sciences) for receiving a National Institutes of Health R16 grant for $671,000. His four-year research project will test the ability of the yeast Pichia pastoris to secrete functional recombinant proteins in the intestines of mice. In the initial experiments, mice will be fed P. pastoris-secreting lactase to alleviate lactose intolerance. In the future, the research could be adapted for improved delivery of other therapeutic proteins.
His innovative approach bypasses the need for expensive protein purification and eliminates stability issues during storage. The successful implementation of this project has the potential to reduce the cost and increase the accessibility of protein-based treatments.
Research and Scholarship
Research in the Spotlight
Early Neanderthal mandibular remains from Baume Moula-Guercy
What is it?
The article provides a comparative analysis of mandibular remains from the Last Interglacial period at Baume Moula-Guercy.
What problem does it aim to solve?
The exact time when certain Neanderthal-like features in the jaw first appeared, and when those features became more common, is still not well understood. However, jaw remains found in Eemian deposits (around 120,000 years ago) at Baume Moula-Guercy offer new evidence that could help answer these questions.
How does it work?
The study uses developmental and morphological characteristics to link these remains to Preneanderthal and Early Neanderthal groups, showing affinities in
mandibular features such as mental foramen position and molar crown characteristics.
What are the real-world implications?
This analysis helps understand the variation in Neanderthal morphology between 246,000 and 115,000 years ago, and the evolution of distinct Neanderthal traits observed in later periods.
What are the next steps?
The shape and structure of the jaw provide clues about how the Neanderthal face evolved, but there are challenges in interpreting this due to the different age ranges of the fossils in each group. Also, the variation within and between these groups is limited because many samples come from just one small population. To improve understanding, researchers suggest
Inferior (a), superior (b), medial (c), and lateral (d) views of this adolescent Early Neanderthal mandible.
reanalyzing jaw features, collecting more data, and using new methods to make better comparisons between existing samples.
“The importance of our recent publication lies not so much in the description of these new remains, but in our uncovering the fact that the unique face of the Neanderthal is likely not a product of a long evolution in periglacial environments. Rather it appears now that there were developmental changes in the craniofacial region in populations that lived long after the Last Interglacial (80,000 to 30,000 years ago) that resulted in the unique facial structure that is one of the defining features of the Neanderthals. This is a major breakthrough in understanding the ontogeny (growth and development) and evolution of the craniofacial complex in the Pleistocene and it helps us better understand developmental factors underlying the evolution of the modern human face.” says Gary Richards.
Research and Scholarship
Source
Early Neanderthal mandibular remains from Baume MoulaGuercy (Soyons, Ardèche), The Anatomical Record, 2024 https://is.gd/imevek
Authors
Gary D. Richards, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
Rebecca S. Jabbour, Department of Biology, Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, California
Gaspard Guipert, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Fondation Albert Ier Prince de Monaco, Paris, France
Alban Defleur, IPHES Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana I Evoluci o Social, Tarragona, Spain
Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19): Lessons Learned | Impact on the Education of Health Professionals
What is it?
A review of the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic impacted health professional schools, the various methods to deliver didactic education and training during the pandemic, and how well they worked.
What problem does it aim to solve?
The pandemic forced educational institutions to improvise on the fly to continue to deliver courses to their students even as they had to pivot to distance learning. Figuring out what worked, what didn’t, and what could be made better are important, both because there are likely to be future pandemics and because these methods of delivering course materials and lectures could be useful in a variety of contexts.
Student during 2020 WREBS
“While didactic courses transitioned easily to a virtual format, using platforms like Webex, Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.
preclinical and clinical teaching suffered immensely.”
How does it work?
“Most health professions innovated their teaching with simulations, role-play, educational videos, etc., but dental education suffered due to the need for psychomotor skill development. As the COVID-19 protocols evolved, and vaccinations became available, the teaching slowly transformed to Flipped Classrooms, Blended Learning, and Hybrid 15 formats, and patient care was allowed with screening, triaging, and testing before scheduling for aerosolcausing procedures in dentistry.” Some formats and methods worked better than others, and the importance of including some in-person training was reinforced.
What are the real-world implications?
Many of the lessons learned aren’t tied to particular online systems or technologies. “Individual competencies must be complemented with team-based core competencies
for students in the health professions. More partnerships must be created with underserved neighborhoods for health equity. Open resources for educational materials for all health professionals should be standardized and accessible to create a sense of community. Action Research must be conducted to scrutinize educational systems based on outdated learning theories.” And it’s also important to take into account differences between Gen. Z students and their predecessors.
For online education specifically: more faculty trained to teach virtually are needed. Social media plays an important role in education.
Research and Scholarship
What are the next steps?
More research as well as putting into practice what was learned.
Source
Iyer, P.H. (2024). “Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19): Lessons Learned | Impact on the Education of Health Professionals”. In: Rezaei, N. (eds) \, vol 1458. Pages 233-246. Springer, Cham. https://is.gd/sicavu
Author
Parvati H. Iyer, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
Recent Publications
Congratulations to Dugoni School faculty, staff, student and resident researchers involved in the following research publications in the last few months as sourced by Scopus, the abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Visit the abstract links to learn more about the publications.
Wong C.L., Melo M.A.S., Scarpa-Lota N., Moazzez R., Furness A., Stewart K.T.
The future of faculty recruitment: Inspiring students into an academic career (2024) Journal of Dental Education, 88 (7), pp. 895 - 899
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.13514 | View ›
Hardin L.T., Abid N., Vang D., Han X., Thor D., Ojcius D.M., Xiao N. miRNAs mediate the impact of smoking on dental pulp stem cells via the p53 pathway (2024) Toxicological Sciences, 200 (1), pp. 47 - 56
DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae042 | View ›
Kong X., Vishwanath V., Neelakantan P., Ye Z.
Harnessing antimicrobial peptides in endodontics (2024) International Endodontic Journal, 57 (7), pp. 815 - 840 DOI: 10.1111/iej.14043 | View ›
Vishwanath V., Neelakantan P.
Contemporary comprehension of root canal biofilms and future perspectives: Part 1 (2024) Endodontology, 36 (2), pp. 91 - 107
Traditional approaches and recent tools for studying inflammasome activity (2024) Journal of Immunological Methods, 533, art. no. 113744
DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2024.113744 | View ›
Noma N., Yan Z., Urata K., Sim C., Tsukada Y., Young A.
Idiopathic orofacial and nociplastic pain in elderly patients: a narrative review (2024) Frontiers of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, 6
DOI: 10.21037/fomm-21-96 | View ›
Barone S., Cevidanes L., Miranda F., Gurgel M.L., Anchling L., Hutin N., Bianchi J., Goncalves J.R., Giudice A.
Enhancing skeletal stability and Class III correction through active orthodontist engagement in virtual surgical planning: A voxel-based 3-dimensional analysis (2024) American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, 165 (3), pp. 321 - 331
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2023.09.016 | View ›
Wang S., Chen Y., Liu Y., Yang L., Wang Y., Fu X., Hu J., Pugh E., Wang S.
Aging effects on dual-route speech processing networks during speech perception in noise (2024) Human Brain Mapping, 45 (1), art. no. e26577
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26577 | View ›
Manton J.W., Nix N.L., Mashkoor F., Lam D.K.
A novel approach for designing hands-on training programs using Quick Reference code-linked videos (2024) Journal of Dental Education
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.13448 | View ›
Iyer P., Ojcius D.M.
Unveiling the mycobiota: The fungal frontier of human health (2024) Biomedical Journal, 47 (3), art. no. 100751
DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2024.100751 | View ›
Richards G.D., Jabbour R.S., Guipert G., Defleur A.
Early Neanderthal mandibular remains from Baume Moula-Guercy (Soyons, Ardèche) (2024) Anatomical Record
