This year’s Student Research Day took on added significance with the presentation of NYUCD’s first annual Distinguished Scientist Award to Dr. Bruce Baum, Chief of the Gene Therapy and Therapeutics Branch of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in recognition of significant and sustained research accomplishments and a proven record of training students for successful research careers. Dr. Baum was cited for increasing the relevance of biological science in dental education and for developing novel applications of gene transfer technology and tissue engineering for the repair of severely damaged salivary glands. The names of the 2003 Research Day winners and their mentors are listed below.

Front row: (left to right) Fahad Al-Kahtani, Ana Alegre, Yaniv Ravee, Shujie Lin, Chia-Yu Sherry Ku, Philip Zaveloff, Wentao Yan. Back row: (left to right) Claudia Karkia, Hong Sik Yoon, Nuno Pereira, Giuseppe Grasso, Dr. Louis Terracio, Ashraf Estafan, Jasdeep Sagoo. Not pictured: Chaninah Zweihorn, Maria Kuriakose, Serguei Grigoriev, Larissa Artemieva.

Omicron Kappa Upsilon, Omega Chapter Award
Chia-Yu Sherry Ku, D.D.S., ’06
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) Analysis of 16S rDNA Amplicon Mobility of Oral Bacteria.
Mentors: Dr. Yihong Li and Dr. Page Caufield

Jasdeep Sagoo, D.D.S., ’05
Analysis of Gene Expression Alterations by Subtractive Cloning in the Spinal Cord During Inflammatory Hyperalgesia.
Mentors: Dr. Hsiu-Ying Yang and Dr. Michael Iadarola, Pain and Neurosensory Mechanisms Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH.

Dean’s Research Award
Philip Zaveloff, D.D.S., ’03
The Use of Heteroduplex Analysis to Find Bacterial Transmission in the Oral Cavity.
Mentors: Dr. Mea Weinberg, Dr. Upinder Fotadar, Dr. Peter Di Fiore, Dr. Louis Terracio, and Dr. Robert Boylan.

Chaninah Zweihorn, D.D.S., ’03
Ion Selectivity Switch Is a Permeability Gating Mechanism With Physiological Relevance.
Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Kinnally

Postgraduate Resident Research Award
Maria Kuriakose, PG Orthodontics, ’03
Apoptosis and the Transmission of Apoptotic Signal Through Gap Junctions in Osteoblasts.
Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Kinnally

Master of Science Research Award
Claudia Karkia, MS in Biomaterials and Biomimetics, ’03
Tissue Engineering of Endochondral Bone.
Mentors: Dr. Cristina Teixeira, and Dr. Racquel Z. LeGeros

Postdoctoral Resident Research Award
Shujie Lin, Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics
Biphasic Calcium Phosphate (BCP) Bioceramics: Preparation and Properties.
Mentors: Dr. Racquel Z. LeGeros, Dr. Ramin Rohanizadeh, Dr. Dindo Mijares, and Dr. John LeGeros.

Dental Hygiene Student Research Award
Ana Alegre, A.A.S., ’03, and Larissa Artemieva, A.A.S., ’03
Oral Manifestations of Vitamin Inadequacies and Nutritional Counseling.
Mentor: Eva Lupovici