spring 2021 - university of iowa

UNIV ERSIT Y OF IOWA COL L EGE OF DEN TIST RY 1

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

THE

DENTAL LINK

Leading the World in Dental Education

SPRING 2021

NEWS FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY

12 Faculty News16 Student News20 Alumni News

10 From the UI Center for Advancement

8 Legacies

2 T HE DEN TA L L INK

Iowa has as many advanced programs as any dental school. We want small, high-quality advanced programs. The symbiosis from this amazing array of programs enhances our predoctoral, research, and patient care programs, and adds a dimension to our College. These programs also attract top faculty. And these programs are destinations! We look at destination in two ways: 1) A lot of people know about the outstanding programs and want to get in, and 2) People come from a long way away to attend Iowa’s programs. Here are the programs and program directors: ENDO: Anne Williamson (’04 MS, ’04 ENDOS)OPER: Sandra Guzman-Armstrong (’99 MS)OPATH: John Hellstein (’91 MS)ORAD: Trishul Allareddy (’09 MS)PEDO: Kecia Leary (’04 DDS, ’07 MS, ’07 PEDOS)DPH: John Warren (’86 DDS, ’91 MS)GSN: Howard Cowen (’76 DDS, ’95 MS)OMS: Steve Fletcher (’06 DDS)GPR: Darrick Zirker (’07 DDS)ORTHO: Kyungsup Shin (’15 MS, ’15 ORTHS)PERI: Sukirth GanesanPROS: Tarek El Kerdani Taking different perspectives, we have over 600 total applicants for these programs each year applying for a total of about 30 slots. Four of the programs have a median of over 100 applicants for a median of four slots. So the chances are one in 20 or one in 25 of getting in. I do know that in interviewing applicants, our program directors want each applicant to come away with a positive view of Iowa and project a feeling of welcomeness even if they don’t get in. Some applicants apply more than once and will be welcomed if accepted on a second try.

FROM THE DEAN

Iowa’s advanced Dentistry programs are destinations – and with good reason

Spring 2021

The Dental Link is published two times a year by the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.

SEND COMMENTS AND UPDATES TO: [email protected]

or Amanda Shoemaker Director of Alumni Relations and Continuing EducationUniversity of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics348 DSB NorthIowa City, IA 52242

DEANDavid Johnsen

MANAGING EDITORAmanda Shoemaker

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSMichael Tilley, Chris White, Barb Colbert

PHOTOGRAPHERSSean Kelley

DESIGNBenson & Hepker Design

Visit the college online at www.dentistry.uiowa.edu.

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DENTAL LINK

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Prior to the 2020-2021 academic year, D4 students were able to take an optional extramural rotation in the Geriatric and Special Needs Clinic. Beginning this academic year, that rotation became mandatory and all D4 students learned about the specific oral health care needs of older and special needs adults. These dental students were mentored by College of Dentistry experts in the field of geriatric and special needs care. This rotation has been fully integrated into the D4 Family Dentistry activities, and faculty specializing in the field participate in calibration exercises and quarterly reviews of D4 student

progress with Family Dentistry faculty. Howard Cowen (’76

DDS, ’95 MS), director of the Geriatric and Special Needs Dental Program and the Delta Dental of Iowa

Foundation Professor of Geriatric and Special Needs

Dentistry, has led the way in arranging and coordinating

this change in policy, and Leonardo Marchini, associate professor in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry,

has conducted research indicating the on-going

value of this change in terms of reducing potentially ageist attitudes among dental students.

All D4 Students Focus on Geriatric and Special Needs Dentistry

A huge benefit our advanced students have in addition to the great faculty is each other! At orientation we strongly encourage each new advanced student to get well grounded in their home program and then get to know other advanced students. Not only will the discipline-specific content of other programs enhance one’s home program (no one can know it all), but the cultures and backgrounds of individuals let us grow as people. A personal rule of thumb is that if one wants to get to know a different culture — in this country or internationally — a good way to do so is to sample the classic literature (extensively if possible) and the beer or wine (maybe a little less extensively). One intangible result of our advanced programs is leadership. Not only are faculty in each of these programs national leaders in the councils where patient policies and practices are set, but many of our graduates are leaders in practice, academia, and dental organizations. So the country and the world again come to Iowa! Hats off to this diamond necklace of advanced programs.

Another perspective is the distance people travel to attend Iowa. These programs have 15 different countries represented just this year. If we add program directors to the list of different countries, the list grows to 17 (Egypt and Korea). We also have fourteen states represented.

CHINA

INDIANIGERIA

PAKISTAN

SPAIN

THAILAND

IRAN

SAUDI ARABIAEGYPT

JORDANSYRIA KOREA



hether it is fostering on-the-ground clinical experiences for our graduates, developing a curriculum closely tailored to the needs of 21st century dentists, promoting cutting-edge educational innovations, or leading the way in dental education scholarship, the University of Iowa College of Dentistry is a worldwide leader in the field of dental education. According to Dean David Johnsen (’73 MS, ’73 PEDOS), “Nurturing a culture of inquiry and respect is crucial to the Iowa experience.” One of the most consistent messages from our alumni is that their vast amounts of clinic experiences prepared them well to excel as dentists. Graduates from the college have as much experience in ADA recognized specialties as any dental graduates in the country. Both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the College has been a leader in clinical activity for our predoctoral dental students, ranking fifth in the nation in total clinical activity despite having significantly fewer students than higher ranked dental schools. In the Big Ten, Iowa has nearly twice the clinical activity in the fourth year than does each other dental school. This level of clinical activity is matched with Iowa’s innovative and unique curriculum, spearheaded by the College’s Associate Dean for Education and Curriculum Michelle Krupp. The overarching goal of the curriculum is to transform dental novices into independent, competent, and autonomous dentists over the course of four years beginning with foundational

knowledge and limited clinical experiences through focused educational and clinical experiences in a wide range of dental specialties in the third-year, and culminating with a vast amount of clinical experiences during the fourth year where students synthesize and integrate what they have learned as they apply it in clinical experiences in the Department of Family Dentistry. This curriculum is infused with a focus on critical thinking and implementing evidence-based practices, and despite the educational and clinical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the faculty, staff, and students at Iowa have continued to grow and thrive. This unique and transformative environment has also fostered a dedicated group of researchers and clinicians who are experts in the field of dental education. Two of our faculty members, Satheesh Elangovan and Leo Marchini are on the editorial board for the Journal of Dental Education, the flagship journal in dental education. Additionally, each year, the American Dental Education Association offers national webinars on important topics in dental education on a wide variety of topics. From June through November, University of Iowa faculty and staff have presented three of these national webinars, including Dean David Johnsen’s webinar, “Critical Thinking in Dental Education,” drawing from his co-authored publications with many UI dental faculty members expressing the thinking of

Leading the World in Dental Education

“Nurturing a culture of inquiry

and respect is crucial to the

Iowa experience.”

DEAN DAVID JOHNSEN

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experts in discrete manageable steps that allow students to see, understand, and reproduce in assessments the thinking of experts in a variety of fields. It also included Ahmed Mahrous (’16 PROSS, ’17 MS), clinical assistant professor in the Department of Prosthodontics, whose webinar, “Where Are We? Virtual and Augmented Reality in Dental Education” drew from his cutting-edge research describing how digital technology and techniques can replace physical objects, like teeth, models, and so forth. Such an approach gives greater flexibility and availability for dental education, and this research has resulted in numerous publications. Mahrous and Amira Elgreatly, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Operative

Dentistry, received an Iowa Challenge award to develop an entrepreneurial project based on this work. The third webinar was presented by the college’s embedded social worker, Kristen Flick, and Ann Synan, patient representative specialist, entitled “Taking CARE of Barriers: How Social Work Impacts Dental Education.” Flick and Synan spoke about the value of taking a social-work perspective in patient care and its great impact on patient care and improving access to care. These snapshots into the educational landscape at Iowa give a small glimpse of the large tapestry of talent and energy that the College has dedicated to its educational enterprise. That’s why Iowa will remain a leader in dental education.

Top: Manuel Gomez (’05 ENDOS) provides feedback to a student in the Simulation Clinic.

Above: Michael Callan (’88 DDS) works with a student on a case.


Justine Kolker, Fuller-Denehy Professor of Operative Dentistry

Jin Xie, Centennial Research Professor Phillip Lainson, former chair of the Department of Periodontics

ndowed faculty positions are the highest form of recognition that universities bestow on faculty members, and the process at the University of Iowa for selecting these faculty for these positions is rigorous. The College has conferred two new professorships since September, and expects to confer a third in the near future. In September 2020, Justine Kolker (’96 DDS, ’00 MS, ’03 PhD) was announced as the inaugural Fuller-Denehy Professor of Operative Dentistry, named after Jim Fuller (’62 DDS, ’72 MS) and Jerry Denehy (’70 MS), two beloved emeriti professors from the Department of Operative Dentistry. Kolker is internationally recognized for her work in cariology in both the science of the disease and in the setting of clinical policy and standards. Since 2017, she has been co-investigator on three NIH grants totaling over $3 million. She has been involved in more than 15 funded research projects in her career with a wide array of collaborators in Iowa, nationally, and internationally.

The College Announces Three New Professorships

Professor Kolker has collaborated with an extensive array of teams nationally and internationally and published in high-impact journals. She has lectured widely in topics on dental caries from different perspectives. For the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and International Caries Classification and Management System (ICCMS), she is one of about 10 people around the world in this policy-setting standard. She had a “2006 Best Paper Award” from the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. In January 2021, Jin Xie was announced as the next Centennial Research Professor. This professorship recognizes Professor Xie’s international reputation in research and the impact of his current research for its own sake and for the advancement of the College’s strategic mission in research. Professor Xie is currently Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Division of Biostatistics and Computational Biology for the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. He also holds a joint appointment in the

E


During the COVID-19 pandemic, the College has had a banner year in research with a record number of funds awarded over the past 20 months and a record number of grant applications. Building on that success, the University of Iowa announced that the first $7.5 million of the investment revenue generated from the public-private partnership (P3) for its utility system would include a $600K+ award for the College of Dentistry. With this support, an interdisciplinary team with over 40-people, including Iowa faculty from the Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Engineering, will develop the preliminary data and program structure to apply and be competitive for an $11 million grant from the NCI/NIDCR to establish a P50 Specialized Program of Research Excellence in oral cancer. This specialized research program in oral cancer will be the first of its kind in the nation. Each year, approximately 53,000 people are diagnosed with some form of oral cancer and almost 10,000 die. Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of oral cancer significantly enhance survival rates and reduce morbidity.

College of Dentistry Awarded P3 Funds to Begin Developing a New Oral Cancer Center of Excellence

The College Announces Three New ProfessorshipsUniversity of Iowa College of Public Health, and has collaborated with over 100 clinical, translational, and basic science principal investigators, leading the quantitative biomedical research effort on 52 peer-reviewed grants and 32 clinical trials including two NIH Cancer Center Support Grants, SPORE grants (P50) in lung and renal cancer, various single-PI NIH grants, as well as grants from NASA, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the American Cancer Society, and the US Department of Defense. These awards have provided over $90 million of research funding, and the resulting collaborations have led to 138 articles published in peer-reviewed journals with more than 7000 citations to date. Since Professor Xie assumed the role of associate dean, the College has continued improving its research trajectory with record levels of NIH funding and applications. In January 2021, the College also took applications for a new professorship, the Phillip A. Lainson Professorship in Periodontics. This new professorship will excel in scholarship, teaching, and clinical practice, and will contribute to the Department of Periodontics’ excellence in teaching at the Predoctoral and Advanced levels, multidisciplinary patient care, research, both basic and clinical, interdisciplinary collaborations, and national professional leadership. The professorship is named after Phillip Lainson (’62 DDS, ’68 MS, ’68 PERIS), a longtime professor and chair of the Department of Periodontics, who helped expand and develop evidence-based approaches to periodontics within the department during his more than 20 years as chair. Kolker, Xie, and the new Lainson Professor will continue the College’s legacy of excellence in research, education, and patient care.

Professors Jeff Banas and David Drake discuss their work with research assistant Alissa Villhauer and research specialist Min Zhu.

“CENTER” CONTINUES ON PAGE 23

8 T HE DEN TA L L INK8 T HE DEN TA L L INK

ALUMNI LEGACIES

ISAAC STINE KATELYN STINE ’20 DDS (Sibling)

KAYLA LIMBERG SCOTT LOPSHIRE ’04 DDS (Cousin)

ERICA OLBERDING PETER OLBERDING ’89 DDS (Father)

LISA HOLST ’89 DDS (Mother)

JOSEPH REMSBURG

KEITH CHRISTIANSEN ’79 DDS (Uncle)

MADELINE SLATER

JESSICA SWANSON ’04 DDS

(Mother)

ROBERT SWANSON ’08 DDS

(Stepfather)

CATIA ATIENZA KATHRYN KAMBHUSALVADOR ATIENZA ’94 DDS (Father)

PETER KAMBHU ’86 MS, ’86 PROSS,

’89 DDS (Father)

MICHELLE ATIENZA ’93 DH

(Mother)

MEGAN (PETERSON) WILDE

NATHAN PETERSON D4

(Sibling)

FIRST-YEARS CONTINUE FAMILY DENTAL TRADITION



PETER ECONOMOS NICK ECONOMOS ’19 DDS (Sibling)

CECILIA VARGAS MARCOS VARGAS ’94 MS (Father)

KAAREN VARGAS ’98 PhD (Mother)

COLTON CURTIS BROOKE FRAZIERERIK CURTIS ’99 DDS, ’01 MS, ’01 ORTHS

(Father)

NEAL CURTIS ’05 DDS (Uncle)

KIRSTEN FRAZIER ’19 MS, ’19 ORTHS

(Sibling)

ALEENA PARPIA ASHIFA (SOPHIA) HIRANI PARPIA ’95 DDS

(Mother)

AMANDA ROEMMICH BENJAMIN ROEMMICH

’15 DDS (Sibling)

JOSHUA STROHMAN WILLIAM STROHMAN ’85 DDS (Father)

LEROY STROHMAN ’58 DDS, ’59 PEDOS

(Grandfather)

KAITLYN TIGGES LYNN CURRY ’65 DDS (Grandfather)

CATHY (CURRY) TIGGES ’93 DDS

(Mother)

JAY TIGGES D3 (Sibling)

SCOTT WILSON ’96 DDS (Uncle)



Craig & Ann Aswegan

Our sincerest thanks to Craig Aswegan (‘71 DDS) and Ann Aswegan for their generous gift establishing a new scholarship in support of underrepresented first-year dentistry students. The Dr. Craig and Ann Aswegan Scholarship will award $5,000 annually to a new dentistry student over the next ten years. Dr. Aswegan is a 1971 graduate of the UI College of Dentistry. Ann is also a UI alum, having graduated in 1969 with a BA in English and a certificate in secondary education. Dr. Aswegan was inspired to make this gift in celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of his graduation from the College of Dentistry and in recognition of an outstanding educational background that enabled him to enjoy a successful and fulfilling career.

Susan Brackett & Gregg Wadley Susan E. Brackett (‘87 MS) and her husband, Gregg Wadley, have established the Prosthodontics Technology Excellence Fund in honor of Dr. Kenneth A. Turner, DEO of Fixed Prosthodontics, 1979-1987. Dr. Turner served as Dr. Brackett’s program director, mentor and role model. This new fund will allow students to provide state-of-the art patient care utilizing the latest technology. She hopes this lead gift will inspire fellow prosthodontic alumni to join her in supporting the fund. Dr. Brackett spent the first half of her career in academics before joining an established prosthodontic practice in Oklahoma City in 1998. Following Dr. Turner’s example, she served as President of the American College of Prosthodontists in 2016-2017.

THANK YOU!

Lainson Fundraising Goal Achieved

Thanks to the 65 alumni and friends who helped us achieve our $750,000 fundraising goal to establish the Phillip A. Lainson Professorship in Periodontics. Phillip A. Lainson (‘62 DDS, ‘68 MS) served as the chair of the Department of Periodontics from 1976 to 1998. This professorship will serve as a lasting tribute to Dr. Lainson’s contributions to the department and to the field of periodontics. Endowed faculty positions enhance our ability to recruit the best candidates to our faculty, maintain our status as a top-tier school of dentistry, and continue our tradition of excellence in teaching, research, and practice. Stay tuned for the upcoming announcement of the inaugural appointment to the Phillip A. Lainson Professorship in Periodontics.


Craig & Ann Aswegan

Our sincerest thanks to Craig Aswegan (‘71 DDS) and Ann Aswegan for their generous gift establishing a new scholarship in support of underrepresented first-year dentistry students. The Dr. Craig and Ann Aswegan Scholarship will award $5,000 annually to a new dentistry student over the next ten years. Dr. Aswegan is a 1971 graduate of the UI College of Dentistry. Ann is also a UI alum, having graduated in 1969 with a BA in English and a certificate in secondary education. Dr. Aswegan was inspired to make this gift in celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of his graduation from the College of Dentistry and in recognition of an outstanding educational background that enabled him to enjoy a successful and fulfilling career.

Susan Brackett & Gregg Wadley Susan E. Brackett (‘87 MS) and her husband, Gregg Wadley, have established the Prosthodontics Technology Excellence Fund in honor of Dr. Kenneth A. Turner, DEO of Fixed Prosthodontics, 1979-1987. Dr. Turner served as Dr. Brackett’s program director, mentor and role model. This new fund will allow students to provide state-of-the art patient care utilizing the latest technology. She hopes this lead gift will inspire fellow prosthodontic alumni to join her in supporting the fund. Dr. Brackett spent the first half of her career in academics before joining an established prosthodontic practice in Oklahoma City in 1998. Following Dr. Turner’s example, she served as President of the American College of Prosthodontists in 2016-2017.

THANK YOU!

Lainson Fundraising Goal Achieved

Thanks to the 65 alumni and friends who helped us achieve our $750,000 fundraising goal to establish the Phillip A. Lainson Professorship in Periodontics. Phillip A. Lainson (‘62 DDS, ‘68 MS) served as the chair of the Department of Periodontics from 1976 to 1998. This professorship will serve as a lasting tribute to Dr. Lainson’s contributions to the department and to the field of periodontics. Endowed faculty positions enhance our ability to recruit the best candidates to our faculty, maintain our status as a top-tier school of dentistry, and continue our tradition of excellence in teaching, research, and practice. Stay tuned for the upcoming announcement of the inaugural appointment to the Phillip A. Lainson Professorship in Periodontics.

Iowa Pediatric Dentistry Excellence Fund For more than 130 years, the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics has been an integral part of the healthcare campus at Iowa and an invaluable resource to the entire state. The Department of Pediatric Dentistry works to improve the oral health of infants, children, adolescents, and persons with special health care needs by providing:

Contemporary education in pediatric dentistry for pre-doctoral dental students; Advanced education in pediatric dentistry for residents in the post-graduate training program; Oral health management and treatment of children from birth to age 21 regardless of developmental, social, medical, or dental circumstances; Advancement of the specialty and discipline of pediatric dentistry through research and scholarship; Continuing education on subjects related to pediatric oral health to local, state, national and international audiences; Consultation and technical assistance to individuals and groups needing a resource for pediatric dental issues; Service to the community, the state, and the profession through outreach activities.

The remodeled Department of Pediatric Dentistry in the Dental Science Building opened in March 2016. With this transformation, along with the addition of a procedural room in the new University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital and a continuing presence at the University of Iowa Center for Disability and Development, the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, and other off-campus outreach clinics, the program is positioned to advance the specialty through research and scholarship even further by remaining at the leading edge of pediatric dental education and patient care. In planning for an even brighter future, leadership within the Department of Pediatric Dentistry seeks to raise $1 million in endowed private support. This increase in permanently endowed funds will ensure sustainable support for children and families in need, provide additional opportunities for pediatric dentistry residents, and help recruit, retain and develop outstanding faculty to our program.

To learn more about how your private support can make an impact, contact:

Kelly Garvin, MBA

Director of Development College of Dentistry & Dental Clinics

UI Center for Advancement PO Box 4550

Iowa City, IA 52244-4550 319-467-3503

[email protected]


FACULTY NEWSThe Commission on Dental Accreditation appointed Dr. Sindhura Anamali (’12 MS) as a Review Committee Member for Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.

Eleven projects have been awarded seed grant funds or incen-tive funds as part of the College of Den-tistry’s inaugural seed grant initiative. The funds are intended to encourage research and to generate data that will help awardees be competitive for external funding opportunities. The awardees include Dr. Steven Armstrong (’87 DDS, ’98 PhD), Dr. Cristina Vidal, Dr. Huojun Cao, Dr. Sukirth Ganesan, Dr. Liu Hong, Dr. Kyungsup Shin (’15 MS, ’15 ORTHS), Dr. Hongli Sun, Dr. Erica Teixeira (’18 MS), Dr. Eric Van Otterloo, Dr. Shankar Rengasamy Venugopalan, Dr. Erliang Zeng, and Dr. Shaoping Zhang.

With 45 years of experience in microbi-ology and immunol-ogy and 16 years at the College of Den-tistry, Dr. Kim Brogden retired from the College of Dentistry in January 2021.

The National Insti-tutes of Health and the National Institute of Dental and Cranio-facial Research

awarded Dr. Azeez Butali supplemental funds for his research identifying new genetic variants of cleft palate in African populations that will help Dr. Butali and his team determine an ethically responsible way to handle addi-tional genetic informa-tion found during their research that partici-pants could benefit from knowing.

Dr. Azeez Butali was appointed to an expert panel as part of the WHO Collaborative Global Network for Rare Diseases (CGN4RD), which is designed to identify, assess and support centers of interna-tional expertise connected in one global network. He was also invited to become a member of Smile Train’s Research & Innovation Advisory Council, where Dr. Butali will provide his research expertise in the area with the ultimate aim of improving care for patients with cleft lip and palate.

The National Insti-tutes of Health awarded Dr. Huojun Cao a 2-year grant for his project, “Identifica-tion of Master Transcription Factors of Dental Epithelial Stem Cell by Compu-tational Method.”

Dr. Satheesh Elango-van is the recipient of the American Dental Association’s 2020 Evidence-Based Dentistry Mid-Career Faculty Award. The award is one of three EBD awards given by the ADA, and it recognizes Dr. Elangovan’s outstand-ing and promising contributions to dental practice and the dental profession in EBD.

The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center offers annual opportu-nities for students and faculty members to pitch business ideas, and Dr. Amira Elgreatly and Dr. Ahmed Mahrous (’16 PROSS, ’17 MS) participated in the last Iowa Innovation Challenge where they presented an elevator pitch for their 3D Dental Virtual Reality Application. The pitch won the Judges’ Choice Award.

Dr. Sukirth Ganesan received a pilot grant award from the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center. Dr. Ganesan’s award is a seed grant for his project, Salivary Metabolomic Signa-tures of Patients with Metabolic Syndrome.

The American Acad-emy of Periodontology Foundation selected

Dr. Sukirth Ganesan for an AAP Teaching Fellowship. The fellowship is intended to support the careers of young periodontal educators in academ-ics by providing debt relief.

In May, Dr. John Keller will begin serving as interim president of the University of Iowa. Keller came to the University of Iowa in 1988 as an associate professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and he served for many years as Iowa’s associate provost for graduate and professional education and dean of the Graduate College. As interim president, Keller will continue serving as co-chair of the UI presidential search, since he is not a candidate for the permanent position of president, and he will remain a faculty member at the College of Dentistry after his term as interim president ends. “I am exceptionally grateful

for the opportunity to serve the University of Iowa in this new and most important role,” says Keller. “It is a privilege to be asked by President Richards and the Board of Regents, and it is a true and humbling honor at this point of my career. I look forward to working with the entire campus over this interim period.”

In 2020, Dr. Michelle Krupp was appointed as Associate Dean for Education and Curricu-lum for the College of Dentistry. Most of Dr. Krupp’s efforts since her appointment have been focused on managing the pan-demic and adapting to the recovery plans. Moving forward, two of the biggest initia-tives for Dr. Krupp’s office are (1) to integrate digital dentistry into dental education and board preparation, and (2) to provide greater transparency related to the curriculum while building and enhancing interdepart-mental and collegiate education and supporting faculty as they include teaching and learning develop-ment and ICON/AEFIS assistance.

The long-term director of IT at the College of Dentistry, Mr. Chuck McBrearty, was


appointed as Assistant Dean for Technology and Media Services in 2020. In this new role, Mr. McBrearty is working on implement-ing a new phone system, completing the Big Data project to support research at the College, and a full web site redesign. Moving forward, Mr. McBrearty is focused on exploring new and existing technologies that add value to our faculty, staff and students, partnering with collegiate faculty and staff to help the College meet its strategic plan, and continuing to provide excellent customer support in an ever changing environment.

In July 2020, Dr. Michelle McQuistan (’01 DDS, ’04 MS) was appointed as the inaugural Officer for Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion (DEI). Her primary responsibility involves implementing the College of Den-tistry’s DEI strategic plan, which includes three priorities: 1) create and sustain an inclusive and equitable environment; 2) recruit, retain, and advance a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students; and 3) enhance college-wide DEI accountability and effectiveness. Prior to her appointment, Dr. McQuistan served as chair of the College’s Diversity Committee and co-PI of the Summer Health Professions Education Program-a pipeline program to increase the diversity of the health care workforce.

The American Asso-ciation of Orthodon-tics awarded Dr. Aline Petrin the 2021 Milo Hellman Research

Award, the highest award for research in orthodontics.

The National Insti-tutes of Health awarded Dr. Kyungsup Shin (’15 MS, ’15 ORTHS) a two-year $300K+ R03 grant for their research on using exosomes derived from bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC-Exos) to regenerate condylar fibrocartilage in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This research lays the groundwork for new non-invasive treat-ments for degenera-tive joint disorders.

Dr. Fabricio Teixeira was elected to a two-year term (2021-2022) on the board of directors of the International Associa-tion of Dental Trauma-tology (IADT).

The American Asso-ciation for Anatomy selected Dr. Eric Van Otterloo as the 2021 recipient of the H.W. Mossman Award in Developmental Biology. This award recognizes early career investigators who have made important contribu-tions to the field of developmental biology and have demon-strated remarkable promise of future accomplishments.

In 2020, Dr. Xian Jin Xie was appointed Associate Dean for Research in the College of Dentistry. In this role, Dr. Xie aims to create a more collaborative and inclusive research environment, improve research support infrastructure, support all College faculty’s scholarship efforts

and career advance-ment, while continuing the College’s Research Seed Grant program and its virtual monthly research meeting. Additionally, he hopes to improve clinical research efforts for more external funding and high impact clinical trials, and effectively leverage the awarded institu-tional P3 funding for a more competitive NIH P50 proposal.

Dr. Shaoping Zhang received a $30,000 Colgate Award for Research Excellence (CARE). The program is designed to help junior faculty mem-bers by providing seed research funds. Dr. Zhang’s project builds on his earlier research developing a novel, data-drive periodontal classification system.

“The timeline for the end of my term as dean has been moved up to June 11, 2021. I will be staying on the faculty in Pediatric Dentistry.”

—DAVID JOHNSEN (’73 MS, ’73 PEDOS), COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY DEAN SINCE 1995

Dr. Galen Schneider (’91 DDS) has been named interim dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry effective June 12. He currently serves as executive associate dean and associate dean for faculty in the College. He was named to the faculty at Iowa in 1999 and is a professor in the Department of Prosthodontics. He will serve as interim dean until a new dean is in place. Dr. Julie Zerwic, dean of the College of Nursing, and Dr. Dan Caplan (’88 DDS), department head of preventive and community dentistry, have been named co-chairs of the search committee for a new dean.


FACULTY NEWSDepartment transitions: Long years of leadership and solid departments

Four Department heads will be stepping down this year after long legacies of stellar stewardship and national engagement. All have developed superb departments and all have national networks. They are:

• Julie Holloway, head of Prosthodontics and faculty member since 2010. Julie has been president of national organizations in Prosthodontics. Julie is a scholar in materials and education. Several faculty have won teacher-of-the-year awards under her leadership.

• David (DC) Holmes (’78 DDS, ’91 MS, ’92 PERIS), head of Family Dentistry, a College of Dentistry alumnus, and long-time faculty member before becoming DEO. DC has visited about two thirds of dental schools as an Accreditation Site Visitor or as CRDTS Examiner. This experience is invaluable in curriculum and Accreditation.

• Tom Southard, Head of Orthodontics and long-time faculty member before becoming DEO. Tom’s Orthodontics book is widely used and has been translated. In a national patient/case competition, the Department finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 4th, and 3rd. No one is close! Tom is staying on the faculty.

• John Hellstein (’91 MS), Head of Oral Pathology and Radiology and long-time faculty member before becoming DEO. John has been president of his national specialty organization and President of his American Board. John is staying on the faculty.

These leaders have a total of more than fifty years leading Iowa departments. For that, we say thank you!!

The College currently has active searches to carry on these great traditions.

20 years

The College of Dentistry and the Kirkwood Dental Hygiene program, led by Program Director Shaunda Clark, celebrated their 20-year partnership in 2020.

The College of Dentistry is well represented in the search for a new UI President

In November the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, announced the names of the University of Iowa Presidential Search Committee. They include John Keller, associate provost, and dean of the Graduate College, and professor in the Department of Oral

and Maxillofacial Surgery; Teresa Marshall, professor in the Department of Preventive and

Community Dentistry and vice president of the faculty senate; and Ali Salem, professor in the College of Pharmacy with a joint appointment in the College of Dentistry. Keller is also serving as

co-chair of the search committee.

The committee is charged with identifying finalists for the board’s consideration to become the next president of the UI. Last fall, University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld, whose contract runs through June 2023, informed the board of his

desire to retire as soon as a successor can be appointed.


The vaccine rollout at the University of Iowa initially began by prioritizing front-line health care providers in December 2020. By early 2021, it had expanded to include health care providers more generally, including College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics faculty, staff, and students who are directly involved in patient care. As COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States continue to rise, these vaccinations point toward a light at the end of this journey. The first faculty and staff members at the College of Dentistry received their vaccinations through the University Employee Health Clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics mid-January, and dental students began receiving their vaccinations from University of Iowa Student Health at the end of January. Many adjunct faculty members received vaccinations from local Departments of Health in their home, or surrounding counties.

College of Dentistry faculty, staff, and students receive COVID-19 vaccinations

The mid-January vaccinations were the first in a series of two vaccinations. After the second vaccination, the Moderna vaccination is 94.1% effective at preventing laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the Pfizer vaccination is 95% effective at preventing them. Since more data are needed to determine how effective these vaccinations are at preventing transmission of COVID-19, the CDC has recommended that vaccinated individuals continue to social distance and wear personal protection equipment (including masks). As such, the College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics is maintaining current risk mitigation protocols, including social distancing, PPE requirements, and other risk mitigation efforts, even after all faculty, staff, and students in the building has been given both vaccine doses in the future.

Left: Third-year dental students Emma Miller, Brady Ellis, and Maddie Kasparek received their first COVID vaccine in late January.

Right: First-year dental students Sarmad Hussein, Luke Hovey, and Grant Kincaid patiently wait to get their first COVID vaccine after the first of the year.


CHICHI ADELEKE, DDS STUDENT Analyzes genetic causes of clefts

HOMETOWN: Ames, IA

FACULTY MENTOR/ADVISOR: Azeez Butali, DDS, PhD

WHAT IS YOUR DEGREE PROGRAM AND EXPECTED GRADUATE DATE? Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), June 2022

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH. The goal of my research project is to identify functional genetic variations that may be associated with the cause of orofacial clefts (OFCs). I search for these genetic variants in candidate genes, or genes known to play a role with craniofacial abnormalities, in an isolated South African population.

IN SIMPLE TERMS, WHY DOES THIS RESEARCH MATTER? Orofacial clefts (OFCs) are the most common craniofacial birth defect and place a huge psychosocial and financial burden on the families they impact. Although OFCs can be surgically corrected, treatment requires an interdisciplinary collaboration from a variety of experts including dentists, oral surgeons, psychiatrists, and speech language pathologists. Often, particularly in developing countries, the financial obligation that comes with multidisciplinary treatment is not feasible for many families. By understanding the genetic components of OFCs, we hope to establish ways to prevent them from occurring and thus, eliminate the need for treatments.

HOW SOON AFTER STARTING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA WERE YOU ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH? About 10 months — I began research the summer after my first year here in dental school.

HOW HAS BEING INVOLVED IN RESEARCH MADE YOU MORE SUCCESSFUL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA? Participating in research has given me a great outside-the-classroom learning experience that I wouldn’t have been able to obtain solely from my dentistry studies. It has allowed me to push myself in different areas of study and look at problems through a different lens, which ultimately makes me a better student and student clinician.

WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER GOALS AND/OR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION? Regardless of where I end up in my career, my ultimate goal is to be an impactful force in my patients’ lives and in my community. I hope to use my knowledge and skills to serve those in need and to serve as a role model for minority youth.

STUDENT NEWSDare to create | cure | explore | imagine | discover The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and reshaped many aspects of our lives, but it hasn’t stopped University of Iowa (UI) students from exploring some of life’s most interesting questions through research, scholarship, and creative activity. To celebrate students’ ingenuity, resilience, and innovation, the UI Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) again sponsored the Dare to Discover campaign. It features 52 undergraduate and graduate students who are making waves in disciplines across campus, from music education to dentistry, business analytics, public health, chemistry, French and Italian, law, engineering, sociology, physics and astronomy, and much more.

The OVPR released a call for nominations for the campaign in Fall 2020 and received more than 150 nominations of outstanding students across campus from UI faculty, staff, and other students. Two College of Dentistry prominent student researchers were selected to be a part of this year’s campaign.


The Iowa Dental Board approved manikin-based exams for initial dental licensure in Iowa. Allowing a manikin exam eliminates patients from the dental licensure exam, thus removing ethical and moral dilemmas related to a patient-based exam, while still providing appropriate assessment of hand-skill testing and oversight. Under these new standards, the College of Dentistry had 74 people take the CompeDont exam and 10 people are taking the Patient exam.

Because of COVID-19-related disruptions in 2020, the White Coat Ceremony was held at the beginning of the fall semester in 2020 for second-year dental students rather than at the end of their first year of dental school.

The 5th Annual Student Leadership Retreat was held on August 17, 2020 with over 48 student participants. The retreat focused on celebrating differences and navigating personality styles within leadership teams.

The D2, D3, and D4 classes used class funds to purchase materials for 150 Halloween goodie bags, each containing a children’s toothbrush and a brushing chart.

The Dr. James S. Wefel Research Awards in the fields of Cariology and Dental Sciences, named after the College of Den-tistry professor, were awarded to Yun Jung Kim, Olajide Obe, and Chukwuebuka Ogwo.

Chukwuebuka Ogwo was awarded a Graduate College Post-Comprehensive Research Fellowship for the Spring 2021 semester. This award will help support Ogwo with his dissertation, which will develop resources and information for a quick and easy-to-use web-based application that can accurately predict the risk of cavities and identify how risks can increase or decrease depending on a variety of relevant factors.

The Graduate & Profes-sional Student Govern-ment (GPSG), with the Iowa American Student Dental Association (IASDA) and the College of Dentistry, donated over 400 toothbrushes and toothpaste samples provided by Colgate to the Food Pantry at Iowa. This was made possible through the coordinated efforts between Depart-ment of Pediatric Den-tistry faculty Ms. Cathy Skotowski (’81 DH, ’91 MS), Patient Represen-tative Specialist Ms. Ann Synan, and D2 student Alex Hsieh, a member of the GPSG Interprofes-sional Committee.

HANNAH KLAASSEN, DDS STUDENT Improves dental patient satisfaction

HOMETOWN: Saint Joseph, MO

FACULTY MENTOR/ADVISOR: Leonardo Marchini, DDS, MSD, PhD

WHAT IS YOUR DEGREE PROGRAM AND EXPECTED GRADUATE DATE? Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), June 2021.

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH. My research focuses on the dental patients’ satisfaction with the care that they receive at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. We were able to use over 10,000 patient responses to a satisfaction survey to gauge where the College of Dentistry is excelling, explore areas for improvement, and assess what aspects of the dental experience are most important to a patient.

IN SIMPLE TERMS, WHY DOES THIS RESEARCH MATTER? The data we collected provides insight into the aspects of the dental care experience with the largest effects on patient satisfaction. With this knowledge, steps can be taken to enhance the patient experience and, therefore, help dental schools move further in the direction of person-centered care. In addition, the results from this study may be incorporated into the dental curriculum, aiming to prepare the future dental workforce with the foundation that allows them to achieve higher patient satisfaction rates.

HOW SOON AFTER STARTING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA WERE YOU ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH? I began research during the spring semester of my first year of dental school.

HOW HAS BEING INVOLVED IN RESEARCH MADE YOU MORE SUCCESSFUL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA? Participating in research has allowed me to explore certain aspects of dentistry that I would have likely never pursued, which has provided me a more enriched dental education. I now see the value of patient satisfaction not only in the College of Dentistry, but in all dental practices. I also have insight into areas of the dental experience patients’ value most, which is a valuable tool as I go out and provide dental care to my community soon.

WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER GOALS AND/OR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION? After graduation I plan on pursuing private practice dentistry in Iowa.

Dare to create | cure | explore | imagine | discover


STUDENT NEWS

Although dentists often prioritize technical skills, patients generally aren’t able to evaluate differences in skills and they tend to care much more about how a dentist makes them feel. This central insight was one of fourth-year dental student Hannah Klaassen’s findings from her student research project, which she began four years ago and published in 2020 in the Journal of Dental Education. Klaassen began the project during her first year of dental school as a part of the Dental Student Research Program, which provides opportunities for students to learn about and conduct cutting-edge research in the oral sciences. The College of Dentistry had been consistently collecting open-ended patient feedback after visits, and Klaassen used these responses as the basis for her study. “Taking patient feedback in their own words is helpful for identifying what patients notice and what aspects of patient care are positive and what isn’t,” Klaassen said. After reading through the comments, Klaassen developed a coding system that allowed her to group and classify similar kinds of responses. In particular, Klaassen noted that patients are particularly interested in (1) the emotional care they felt at an appointment, (2) the personal connections they made with staff, (3) the clear communication of expectations, and (4) clarity of communication between provider and patient and across the various departments and front desk teams at the College of Dentistry.

How can patients have a satisfying experience at the dentist?

D4 student Hannah Klaassen with a patient in a UI dental clinic.


more critical now, and I don’t just accept things at face value. The curriculum at Iowa on critical thinking and research is good, but my research experience in the Student Research Program complements it very well. “You don’t understand how much it will impact you,” she added. And one of the biggest impacts for Klaassen has been having Leo Marchini as a mentor. Speaking of Marchini, Klaassen said, “There are a hundred different ways that he helped me. He gave me the skills for conducting research and publishing it, but he also gives me great advice about patients and applying research to particular cases, especially during third-year rotations and treatment planning.”Not content to rest on her laurels, Klaassen is working on another research project examining how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected dental student stress levels.

How can patients have a satisfying experience at the dentist? “Communication is what makes or breaks the patient experience, and all other central areas of concern were intertwined and related to that. Patients care less about technical skills and more about how we make them feel,” Klaassen explained. In October 2019, Hannah Klaassen, who was a third-year dental student then, presented this research project at a Noon Presentation offered to the entire College. Mike Kanellis (’79 DDS, ’82 MS, ’95 MS), associate dean of clinics at the College of Dentistry, said of the presentation, “It is very interesting and timely.” The study was published in the Journal of Dental Education in September 2020.Klaassen’s experience as a student researcher has been formative for her. She initially started conducting research because she was interested in specializing after dental school, and she didn’t realize how much of an impact it would have on her. “This research has given me an outsider and patient perspective on dentistry that I wouldn’t have known, and that’s invaluable,” Klaassen said. She added, “I hope to continue incorporating that into my own practice going forward and analyzing patient feedback in private practices. I think there is a lot we can learn from our patients.” More broadly, the focus on research at Iowa has made a big difference for Klaassen too. Klaassen “100%” recommends that students get involved in the Student Research Program. Speaking of her experience as an author going through an extensive review process for publication, Klaassen said, “I’m much

“Communication is what makes or breaks the patient experience, and all other central areas of concern were intertwined and related to that. Patients care less about technical skills and more about how we make them feel.”

--HANNAH KLAASSEN


ALUMNI NEWS

Special events include: Tour of the College, CE Programs, Reunion Reception, Pregame Social, Football Game against Kent State and Class Dinners

TO MAKE HOTEL RESERVATIONS, CALL: Radisson Hotel Coralville, 319-351-5049 (formerly Holiday Inn and Conference Center) Code: UI Dentistry Reunion/University

Hampton Inn, 319-351-6600 Code: UI Dentistry Reunion/University

Rooms are only available until August 31, 2021.


Got teeth?

Are you a dentist who extracts teeth? If yes, the College of Dentistry needs you! The University of Iowa College of Dentistry is looking for extracted teeth for student projects. If you are a dentist who extracts teeth, please consider saving the extracted teeth and sending them to the College of Dentistry. Dental students use the teeth to learn pre-clinical procedures. For more information, please contact Lisa Piper at (319) 335-7151.

Doug Johnson (’14 DDS), owner of Teeth Power, donated 2,100 toothbrushes from Oral B to the Los Angeles Food Bank.

Alan Law (’91 DDS, ’95 ENDOS) is president-elect of the American Association of Endodontists (AAE). Iowa has been well-represented on the AAE Board of Directors as Keith Krell (’81 DDS, ’83 MS, ’83 ENDOS) is the immediate past president for the organization.

Several news sources, including WebMD, have publicized a study conducted by Khalid Said (’01 MS, ’01 PERIS) that found a connection between periodontitis and complications with COVID-19. The study, “Association between periodontitis and severity of COVID-19 infection: A case-control study,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology in February 2021.

Colleen Shick-Scholz (’90 DDS) relocated to Whangarei, New Zealand where she has taken a position at Kowhai Dental after 30 years of private practice and small business ownership. She is excited to focus on dentistry (and water sports).

The Minnesota Dental Association (MDA) named James Swift (’80 DDS) as the Guest of Honor for the 2020 MDA Star of the North Annual Session. He was recognized for his outstanding commitment to the field of organized dentistry during his 40-year professional career.

Nona (’40 BA) and Jackson Roe (’44 DDS, ’48 MS, ’48 ORTHS) celebrated 75 years of marriage in January 2021. The couple met while Jackson, now 99 years old, was studying at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, and Nona, now 102 years old, was an alumna working on campus.

Wishing a very happy 100th birthday to Don Ostrus (’50 DDS) this month. Since the 1970s, Dr. Ostrus has been a tremendous supporter of the College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, with philanthropic priorities ranging from faculty fellowships to student scholarships to support of the building renovation. The Ostrus Prosthodontic Clinic is named in his honor. Thank you, Dr. Ostrus, for your many years of generosity and friendship to the College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, and for the enormous impact you’ve had on our faculty and students. Happy birthday!

Tom Taylor (’74 DDS) was recently awarded the Dr. Thomas D. Taylor endowed chair in Prosthodontics, named in his honor, at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine where he has been Head of the Department of Reconstructive Sciences since 1989. The endowed chair is the result of a $1 million gift to the school from an industrial partner. The partner acknowledged that the gift was in recognition of Tom’s contributions to academic dentistry and of his record of education, research and mentorship in the field of implant dentistry.


Dr. William “Bill” Maixner (’82 PhD, ’83 DDS), the Joannes H. Karis, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology at Duke University School of Medicine, died on November 2, 2020 at the age of 68. Originally from Ottumwa, Iowa, his

family remembers him as a “true Hawkeye.” After completing his BA, PhD, and DDS at the

Dr. Thomas Gardner, Jr. passed away on July 25, 2020.

Gardner served his country from 1954-1974 in the Army Dental Corps. He was commissioned in the United States Army Reserve as a Second Lieutenant on September

15, 1954 and retired as a Colonel on October 1, 1974.

Upon retiring from the service in 1974 Gardner’s career took him and his family to Iowa where he worked at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. He was a professor and later clinic director of the dental school. He retired as Associate Dean in October 1996.

Dr. Carl Frederic “Fred” Erbe (’60 DDS) passed away on October 2, 2020.

Dentistry wasn’t Erbe’s first profession. After graduating from Iowa State Teachers College High School in 1944,

he enlisted in the US Army. A few years later, he completed multiple degrees including a Ph.D. from Iowa’s Department of Labor and Industrial Management. He spent the next year establishing pension and profit-sharing programs for small businesses, as well as industrial corporations.

The disruption created by the Korean War, plus a strong interest in the profession of Dentistry, led Fred to return to the University of Iowa in 1956 to enter the College of Dentistry, graduating in 1960. Upon graduation, Fred purchased a dental practice in Kalona, Iowa, where he maintained a general dental practice until 1966.

In 1962, Fred joined the College of Dentistry as a part-time faculty member in the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology. In 1964, he assumed a full-time position in the department but retained his dental practice in Kalona until the advent of the collegiate Dental Service Plan in 1966 – serving in that capacity until 1973. Fred was appointed Assistant Dean for Extramural Affairs and served in that capacity until 1993 when he was appointed Associate Dean for Professional and Institutional Relations. Fred retired from the U of I Dental College in 1995.

IN MEMORIAM

ALUMNI NEWS

University of Iowa, he became a research fellow at the National Institute of Dental Research. He went on to become faculty at UNC-CH, where over the span of 30 years, he served as a professor in the Departments of Endodontics and Pharmacology, co-director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Pain Program, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Dentistry, and director of the Center for Pain Research and Innovation.

Dr. Maixner played a key role as a knowledge leader in the field of pain; he served as president of the American Pain Society and on our nation’s Health and Human Services Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee and the NIH’s Pain Consortium, in which he helped shape the direction of our nation’s national strategies in pain research, education and patient care.

He was known as an extraordinary leader, educator, innovator, scientist, mentor, and one of the world’s foremost authorities in pain research. Over the course of his career, he dedicated his career to improving the lives of those suffering from chronic pain, which he called a “hidden pandemic.”

The American College of Dentists (ACD) is the oldest major honorary organization for dentists and the new Iowa Section fellows include Carolyn Larsen (’86 DDS), James Larsen (’86 DDS) and Fabricio Teixeira.

The U.S. News & World Report described how Ryan Stuntz (‘05 DDS) helped guide the emergency shutdown and safe reopening of dentist offices in Iowa as president of the Iowa Dental Association. “I believe our education at the College of Dentistry (COD) helped us to be prepared for the changes that came about due to COVID. Critical thinking was always stressed at the COD and that skill was and is needed in abundance right now along with our excellent education in infection control,” stated Stuntz.


DDS 1944, MS Cert. Orthodontics 1948: David Diggs of Missoula, MT, died November 2, 2020.

DDS 1945: William Smith of Grass Valley, CA, died September 2, 2020.DDS 1950: Roger Klauer of Dubuque, IA, died June 28, 2020.DDS 1951: Irving Weber, Jr. of Tumwater, WA, died October 30, 2011.DDS 1953: Donald Meis of Sun City, AZ, died November 22, 2020.DDS 1954: Gene Holtorf of Fort Dodge, IA, died October 7, 2020.DDS 1955, Cert. Orthodontics 1960: Charles Newcomer of

West Des Moines, IA, died December 1, 2020.DDS 1955: Norman Schulz of Carroll, IA, died January 8, 2021.DDS 1956: Paul Frandsen of Longwood, FL, died July 20, 2020.DDS 1956: Raymond Gill of Coralville, IA, died February 3, 2021.DDS 1958: Maclay Armstrong of Bellingham, WA, died October 20, 2020.DDS 1958: Thomas Jost of Vail, CO, died January 9, 2021.DDS 1958: David Storie IV of Jonesborough, TN, died February 9, 2021.DDS 1959: Edwin (Joe) Hancock of Salinas, CA, died February 12, 2021. DH 1959: Austa White of Plainfield, IA, died January 2, 2021.DDS 1961: James Michel of Milan, IL, died December 9, 2020.DDS 1962, MS Cert. Orthodontics 1967: William Hemphill of Castle Rock, CO,

died September 21, 2020.MS Cert. Oral Pathology 1963: Camillo Alberico of Fairmont, WV, died

October 26, 2020.MS Cert. Oral Surgery 1963: Eugene Toone of Tucson, AZ, died

September 19, 2020.DDS 1965: David Hennessey of Sumner, IA, died October 7, 2020.DDS 1968: Thomas Clark of Moville, IA, died January 25, 2021.DDS 1969: Robert Broghammer of Clear Lake, IA, died September 10, 2020.DH 1971: Marcia Gard Kaeser of Westerville, OH, died September 30, 2020.DH 1972: Doreen McNeal of Cedar Rapids, IA, died August 9, 2020.DDS 1972: Dean Sheller of Chaska, MN, died December 9, 2020.DDS 1977: Jerry Mahacek of Waverly, IA, died January 2, 2021.MS Cert. Operative Dentistry 1986: Fernando de Carvalho Oliveira, Jr. of Belo

Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, died July 16, 2020.

These P3 funds will significantly improve the chances that this interdisciplinary team will be able to secure P50 funds for each of the proposed research projects, and these projects would in turn help fill gaps in knowledge and in clinical translation necessary to substantially improve early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of oral cancer. More specifically, the P3 funds will enable the team to develop the infrastructure and administrative units for supporting each of the research projects, and it will allow the project teams to generate preliminary data. In their award letter, Provost Kevin Kregel and Vice President of Research Martin Scholtz said of the project, “Establishing the nation’s first NCI/NIDCR P50 in Oral Cancer will bring national and international distinction to the University of Iowa. We look forward to seeing the prog-ress towards establishing the support activities necessary to be competitive in the P50 grant submission.”

“CENTER” CONTINUES FROM PAGE 7


The Dental LinkCollege of DentistryDental Science BuildingIowa City, Iowa 52242-1010

In 1887, Jessie Richey (1887 DDS) became the first female dental graduate and first female valedictorian at Iowa. From 1889-1890, Richey was also the first female dental faculty member at Iowa. After marrying, she and William DeFord, another Iowa dental faculty, moved to Des Moines, taught at Drake’s short-lived dental school, then went into private practice. Dr. Jessie Richey DeFord died in 1943 around the age of 80. During the 1800s, dentistry was not considered an appropriate role for women and many dental schools did not admit females. Because Iowa was the first state university in the U.S. to admit men and women on an equal basis, and Iowa has the thirteenth oldest surviving U.S. dental school, the question arose: was Dr. Jessie Richey DeFord the first female dental faculty in the United States?

Researching this question was difficult because of COVID-19 and also the lack of documentation. A National Museum of Dentistry curator, noting the absence of information about early female dental faculty, concluded it was “ … almost impossible to determine with any certainty.” A University of Michigan librarian agreed: “… many dental programs across the country do not seem to provide…

and [encourage] examination of their history overall.” Her research, however, verified that a Dr. Elsie Hallock had been a female dental faculty at Michigan from 1886-1887. Dr. Hallock may well have been the first female dental faculty in the U.S., but it remains likely that Dr. Richey DeFord was one of the first female dental faculty.

Dr. Jessie Richey: The First U.S. Female Dental Faculty?

HISTORICAL IMPRESSIONS

spring 2021 - university of iowa

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