Letter from the Dean

success and we gained some valuable insight on how to write a successful research proposal from a faculty who was a former student here at PDM himself. Looking forward to the future, we will welcome our incoming D1 class with our annual Research Speed Dating event to put them in touch with student mentors who are currently involved in research. It has been a great honor to serve as the Vice President of VBRS and I continue to be inspired by the passion our students involved in research. This organization’s rich history is supported by a diverse group of faculty who are eager to share their experience in research and engage our student body in their work. Under the guidance of our faculty advisors, Dr. Francis Mante and Dr. Esra Sahingur, we continue to grow as an organization and fulfill the VBRS mission here at PDM. I would like to thank the students and faculty alike for their constant support and eagerly look forward to what is still to come for VBRS.

Sincerely,

CHINTAN THAKORE

VBRS Vice President

Congratulations to the members of the Vernon Brightman Research Society and our entire student body for your exceptional research activities. I am so proud of the depth of Penn Dental Medicine research across disciplines and the level of student involvement — from our DMD students and postdoctoral residents to our advanced graduate degree candidates, you all play a vital role in helping to advance new discoveries, and in turn, patient care.

This year’s Research Day and the debut of ACCE Day were tremendous evidence of our robust research enterprise with 71 posters presented at ACCE Day and another 94 at Research Day. Learning to share your work in this way with other students and faculty is a key part of the research process, for often, it is the serendipitous connections we make with colleagues and their fields of study that enable us to move our own studies and hypotheses forward.

As this new academic year gets underway, I join you in eagerly anticipating the unique findings your research may reveal this year. I hope all of you, already engaged in research will continue to find the educational rewards of the process. To those of you who have not been involved in a research project, I encourage you to take advantage of the many opportunities available throughout your time at Penn Dental Medicine.

To the members of the Vernon Brightman Research Society, I thank you for your activities in our student research here at Penn Dental Medicine. Thank you for representing the School so strongly as a vibrant chapter of the American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) National Student Research Group.

Warm Regards,

MARK S. WOLFF, DDS, PhD

Morton Amsterdam Dean