49th annual Research Scholars Day
Dental and dental hygiene students showcased their latest research at the 49th annual Research Scholars Day April 3.
“Today has been so fun,” said first-year dental student Nichole Jeong. “Luckily, it’s on a chill week; I’ve been super busy. As D1s, we usually have something like four exams a week. But today is so nice, it’s fun to see everyone’s research.”
There are more aspects to dentistry than one might realize, which the day aims to highlight alongside the quality of student research. Topics of research included community health, social studies, mental health, joint pain relief and much more.
“Basically, I’m looking at a product of our gut biome and seeing how it can cause an alleviation of pain in your temporomandibular joint,” said D1 Tristan Corpus, explaining his research. “I did the summer research program here at the school, and it set me up with a professor who has a PhD student who’s working on this topic, as well. I learned from him, and they took me under their wing and helped me come up with some research of my own.”
The Research Scholars Day also highlighted collaboration between students. Second-year dental hygiene students Zoë Richter and Angeline Tacuyan examined rural counties in Texas where dental care is nonexistent or prohibitively far to reach, how this has impacted those communities, and proposals for federal funding for mobile health clinics that could visit these areas.
“Part of our curriculum for dental hygiene is research,” Richter said. “We had to find a topic we were passionate about, and we’re both passionate about public health. We saw this as an opportunity to educate others, especially about the MOBILE Health Care Act that recently got passed.”
“We were also drawn to this topic because our school and the hygiene department encourages us to do outside rotations in areas like this,” Tacuyan added. “We have a sealant van of our own, also. We have a version of this where we go out to elementary schools and underserved areas.”
Dr. Louis Bruno Ruest, acting department head of Biomedical Sciences, helmed the event and said more students participated this year than in recent history.
“We had a large increase in the number of posters presented, from about 10 to 12 the last few years to 34 this year,” he said. “We haven’t had such a large number of posters for about eight to 10 years. The success of Scholars Day is always dependent on the student participation; mentoring provided by the faculty; funding provided by the school, the Baylor Oral Health Foundation and the Dallas Chapter of the AADOCR; and individuals helping with the organization and judging the presentations. I am thankful for all of them.”
The winners of Research Scholars Day are as follows:
Dental Hygiene Students:
1st Place: Tristan Mounts, Isabella Slaughter and Jack Dillon. “Early Detection of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Through Salivary Analysis.” Mentored by Professors Ariana Mendoza and Jane Cotter
2nd place: Angeline Tacuyan and Zoë Richter. “How Federally Funded Mobile Dentistry Can Increase Life Expectancy in Texas.” Mentored by Professors Ariana Mendoza and Eric Fox
3rd place (tie): Victoria Brown, Abisha Merkle and Kaitlin Jarman. “Advancing Oral Health: Exploring Preliminary Vaccines for Preventing Periodontal Disease.” Mentored by Professors Kayla Reed and Brandy Cowen.
Vanessa Rosales, Alma Muniz and Laila Al Jabiri. “P. Gingivalis: An Associated Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease.” Mentored by Professors Maureen Brown and Joanne Martinez
Poster Presentations
ADEA Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program
1st Place: Zoë Richter (DH2). “How a trip to the dentist can help you sleep better.” Mentored by Professor Kayla Reed (Dental Hygiene)
2nd Place: Daniel Hupp (D4). “Development of Comprehensive Interactive Endodontic Diagnostic Scenarios: A User-Centered Approach.” Mentored by Dr. Ane Poly (Endodontics)
3rd Place: Christine Gonzalez (D2). “Nano Silver Fluoride: A Cost Effective and Non-invasive Approach to Transforming Oral Health.” Mentored by Professor Kayla Reed (Dental Hygiene)
IADR/AADOCR
1st Place: Conrad Harness (D3). “Mechanical Forces Regulate Plasticity of Scx+ Cells During Condyle Growth.” Mentored by Dr. Yan Jing (Orthodontics)
2nd Place: Nichole Jeong (D1). “Role of Brain Neuronal Activity in Pain and Depression Comorbidity.” Mentored by Dr. Sufang Liu (Biomedical Sciences)
3rd Place: Ryan Eldin (D1). “Mandibular Advancement Appliance Therapy in Pediatric Sleep Disordered Breathing.” Mentored by Dr. Emet Schneiderman (Biomedical Sciences)
Honorable mentions: Leslie Nguyen (D2). “Masking White-Spot-Lesions Color Using Resin-Infiltration, Self-Assembling Peptide, CPP-ACPF.” Mentored by Dr. Amal Noureldin (Dental Public Health), and Taehyeon Kim (D2). “Rostral Process Directly Contributes to Early Mandibular Formation.” Mentored by Dr. Yan Jing (Orthodontics)
From the 2024 IADR/AADOCR meeting:
Conrad Harness (D3) finished 2nd in the Dentsply-Sirona SCADA competition.
Braedon Gunn (D2) finished 2nd in the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Research Group competition.
Paria Dehghanian (PhD student) won the Orthodontics and Craniofacial Clinical and Translational Research Award from the Craniofacial Biology Research Group.
Michelle Wu (D1) was selected by a national committee to participate in the Hatton competition and received a Bloc Travel Award.
Oral Presentations
1st Place: Nicholas Baldetti (D2). “Effect of Vagotomy on Butyrate-Produced Inhibition of Morphine-Induced Hyperalgesia.” Mentored by Dr. Feng Tao (Biomedical Sciences)
2nd Place: David Qin (D1). “Long-Term Effects of High Fat Diet on Condylar Chondrocytes Transdifferentiation.” Mentored by Dr. Yan Jing (Orthodontics)
3rd place (tie): Christy Chang (D2). “Effectiveness of Novel CaF O-Rings in White Spot Lesion Prevention.” Mentored by Dr. Shirley Lewis (Comprehensive Dentistry)
Michelle Wu (D1). “Bmp1 Ablation Resulted in Developmental Root Abnormalities in Mice.” Mentored by Dr. Hua Zhang (Biomedical Sciences)