See complete Research Day 2008 information.

Dental and dental hygiene students, graduate and doctoral students, and post-doctoral fellows presented summaries of their research during the School of Dentistry's annual Research Day on Feb. 12. Sixty-nine posters outlining multiple areas of research were displayed in the Grand Ballroom at the Michigan League.

Grand Prize winner was third-year dental student Nejay Ananaba for her research on the oral health and quality of life of middle school students in her home country of Liberia. As Grand Prize winner, Ananaba, who is also a Dental Scholar, will represent the School of Dentistry at the ADA/Dentsply Student Clinician Research Program in San Antonio, Texas, in October.

Other winners are listed below, as well as the titles of their research and mentors. Thirty-four judges evaluated the poster presentations. Twenty-nine exhibitors also participated.

Grand Prize

Nejay Ananaba (D3) Mentors: Marilyn Woolfolk & Marita Inglehart
Liberian Middle School Students' Oral Health and Quality of Life

Undergraduate, DDS, DH, MS/Certificate - Clinical Application and Techniques

1st Prize:
Maciej Dolata (D2) Mentor: Woosung Sohn
Community-Based Dental Clinics in Michigan: Their Role and Barriers in Providing Oral Health Care

2nd Prize:
Natasha Feller, Erin Gilmore, Chelsie Stromski (DH4) Mentor: Janet Kinney
Ultrasonic Scalers and Hearing Loss

3rd Prize: (Tie)
April Patterson (D4) Mentor: George Taylor
Diabetes and Tooth Loss: Exploring the Role of Dental Insurance in U.S. Adults

Jeniebelle Timacdog, Miranda Szasz (DH4) Mentor: Woosung Sohn
Effects of Chewing Gum Containing Xylitol on Dental Caries

Undergraduate, DDS, DH, MS/Certificate - Basic Science and Research

1st Prize:
Jason Schrotenboer (D3) Mentor: Hom-Lay Wang
Effect of Microthreads on Platform Switching: A Finite Element Analysis

2nd Prize:
Jamie Scot Luria (D3) Mentor: Paul Krebsbach
Effects of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins on Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells

3rd Prize (Tie):
William Love (D1) Mentor: Jacques Nör
G-CSF Enhances the Angiogenic Potential of Endothelial Cells

Jonathan Miller (Undergraduate) Mentor: Mathilde Peters
Novel Handheld Device to Determine the Physical Properties of Hydrated Dentin

Special Hygiene awards

1st Prize:
Natasha Feller, Erin Gilmore, Chelsie Stromski Mentor: Janet Kinney
Ultrasonic Scalers and Hearing Loss

2nd Prize:
Jeniebelle Timacdog, Miranda Szasz (Mentor: Woosung Sohn)
Effects of Chewing Gum Containing Xylitol on Dental Caries

3rd Prize:
Allison Cragun, Nikia Taylor (Mentor: Paul Edwards)
Noma: Ulcer of Extreme Poverty

PhD/Postdoctoral Fellow/Staff

1st Prize:
Kathleen Neiva (PhD student) Mentor: Jacques Nör
Endothelial Cells Induce STAT3, AKT, ERK Signaling in Tumor Cells

2nd Prize (Tie):
Jan Berry (Staff) Mentor: Laurie McCauley
JunB as a Potential Mediator of PTHrP Actions: New Gene Targets

Jinhui Liao (Postdoctoral Fellow) Mentor: Laurie McCauley
PTHrP Enchances Prostate Cancer Skeletal Progression

3rd Prize:
Shelley Brown (PhD student) Mentor: Paul Krebsbach
Derivation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Audience Choice Award

Jenny Ha (D4) Mentor: Juliana Barros
Bactericidal Effect of Er,CR:YSGG Laser on Caries-Affected Dentin

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