College Of Dental Medicine Faculty And Students Honored
NEW YORK, NY, April 12, 2007 – Students and faculty of Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM) recently were honored for their significant contributions to the fields of dentistry and dental education:
FACULTY HONORS
Steven Chussid, DDS Steven Chussid, DDS, division director of Pediatric Dentistry, was selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics to serve as a Pediatric Oral Health Preceptor in 2007. The program is intended to train pediatricians to develop and improve pediatric oral health risk assessment techniques, institute a caretaker oral health assessment interview as part of well child visit, train other health care professionals in oral health risk assessment techniques, and identify ways that fluoride varnish can be incorporated into practice. This year's focus will be on Native American and migrant populations.
Panos Papapanou, DDS, Ph.D., professor of dentistry in the section of oral and diagnostic sciences, was elected Councillor of the Periodontal Research Group of the International Association of Dental Research, and will serve in that capacity for a 5-year period.
Burton Wasserman, DDS, chairman of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System for Dental Services, New York Hospital Queens and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, has been appointed as the general dentist for the Periodontics Review Committee of Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Jed Best, DDS, associate clinical professor of pediatric dentistry, is the president elect of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, the certification board for the specialty. Dr. Best is also the program chair for the annual session of the College in San Antonio this May, and is a member of the CDM admissions committee.
Jeremy Mao, DDS, Ph.D. Jeremy Mao, DDS, Ph.D., associate professor of orthodontics, received the 2007 Iwao Yasuda Award for his outstanding contribution in the areas of stem cells and regenerative medicine, as well as mechanical modulation of skeletal growth. The Iwao Yasuda Award represents the highest honor given by the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine to an individual who has made outstanding contribution to the field of biomedical research.
Xuejun (Antonio) Xin, Ph.D., associate research scientist, won a Web Jee Young Investigator Award. Dr. Xin is one of three winners for 2007. The award was presented on February 11 during the 53rd Orthopedic Research Society meeting in San Diego. The keynote speaker of the session was Professor Shu Chien, a Columbia alum, who is a member of the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. Dr. Xin is currently funded by the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research to investigate the tissue engineering of the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ).
Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH, chairman of the section of social and behavioral sciences, testified before the House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee on the subject of dental Medicaid and the State Child Health Insurance Program. The meeting followed the death of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old who died of a brain abscess in Washington, D.C., after a dental infection.
Eduardo Moioli, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Jeremy Mao's laboratory, was selected to be one of top 20 U.S. delegates to a collaborative workshop of outstanding early-career scientists from the US and the UK at Newcastle’s International Centre for Life in January. The meeting, funded by the British Council USA and British Council Seminars, allowed the researchers to share their work with fellow prominent American and British stem cell researchers.
STUDENT HONORS
Eugene Ko (CDM 2010) and Nancy Okeke (CDM 2010) were selected to receive National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research summer research fellowships. They are two of only 15 fellows nationally.
Neeru Singh (CDM 2008) was chosen as one of ten people in the second class of the Academic Dental Career Fellowship Program, designed to create dental educators. Laureen Zubiaurre, DMD, was her mentor for the fellowship year. Carmel Dudley (CDM 2007) was a participant in the national program’s inaugural year, under the mentorship of Martin Davis, DSS. The fellowship program is the result of the combined effort of the American Dental Education Association and the American Association for Dental Research.
Marvin Baptiste (CDM 2008) received the 2007 ADEA/Listerine Preventive Dentistry Scholarship. He was recognized at the 2007 ADEA Annual Session in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 18th.
### The College of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, founded in 1917, is located in northern Manhattan. In addition to providing education programs for pre- and post-doctoral candidates, CDM conducts research in state-of-the-art facilities and oversees an extensive community-based service program for residents in the surrounding community – a federally designated medical and dental manpower shortage area. Outreach into the community includes dental programs in seven area public schools, a dental van, and three off-site community-based dental clinics, providing state-of-the-art care to an underserved population as well as a rich learning environment for students at CDM. Visit us on the web: http://dental.columbia.edu
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and public health professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. www.cumc.columbia.edu