Columbia University College Of Dental Medicine Students And Faculty Honored
NEW YORK, NY – October 26, 2006 – Several students and faculty members of Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM) recently were honored for their significant contributions to the fields of dentistry and dental education:
STUDENT HONORS
The American Student Dental Association at the College of Dental Medicine received a national award for the 2006 Crest Healthy Smiles community outreach project. The award, which was given for "outstanding children’s oral health education program in a community setting", was presented to Columbia delegates Neeru Singh (CDM '08) and Wayne Stephens (CDM '09), at the 2006 ASDA Annual Session in Baltimore.
Wayne Stephens and Neeru Singh (center, L&R) receive the Crest Healthy Smiles award. A panel of clinical and public health faculty from US dental schools selected Columbia’s chapter among schools from across the country for this citation. Columbia’s ASDA chapter received a $600 contribution from Crest in addition to a commemorative plaque. Crest Healthy Smiles is a national outreach program designed to improve the state of oral health in America's children by providing education, oral care tools and increased access to dental care for them and their families. ASDA chapters at dental schools across the country joined in this effort through planning programs for an underserved community.
Columbia ASDA vounteers worked with children in Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia’s ASDA chapter targeted third to sixth graders from the Washington Heights/Inwood area. Two schools, P.S. 115 and P.S. 132, agreed to host the project in after-hours programs coordinated by Alianza Dominicana, one of the largest community agencies of its kind in north Manhattan. Over the three days the project was held, approximately 200 eager children received basic dental supplies and oral health education from 37 Columbia dental student volunteers. Each child also received a dental goodie bag with materials provided by Crest. The volunteers based their lesson on age-specific lesson plans developed by Columbia's ASDA chapter. The organizers are encouraged by the success of the event and look forward to hosting the program on a larger scale next year. Eugene Ko (CDM '10), Derek Park (CDM '09) and Pooria Shahin (CDM '09) participated in highly competitive internships at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research this summer.
“The NIDCR summer internship is an absolutely perfect gauge for those who don't know whether or not they want to do research as a career and need some sort of genuine research experience to be the catalyst or inhibitor for further pursuing that avenue,” said Ko, who conducted research on the interactions between streptococcus gordonii and actinomyces naeslundii and now believes that he will pursue a career in dental research.
Wayne Stephens (right) with Senator Edward Kennedy. Wayne Stephens (CDM '09), was chosen from a field of national applicants and awarded a six week National Health Policy Externship at the Washington office of the American Dental Association (ADA). Mr. Stephens spent time working in the member departments of the ADA’s Washington office, including Regulatory Policy and Congressional Affairs.
He assisted in drafting a position paper on Medicaid authored by the ADA and a coalition of safety net partners. This work was submitted to the special Commission on Medicaid, a body directly appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health. The paper argues for the retention of critical primary health care services such as dental care in the upcoming Medicaid overhauls. During his assignments in the Congressional Affairs department, Mr. Stephens was involved in lobbying efforts, attending meetings on Capitol Hill with elected officials and members of allied interest groups. Mr. Stephens plans to pursue an MBA degree with a focus on healthcare management through the joint program with Columbia’s Graduate School of Business.
The Columbia chapter of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) was selected to receive the "Most Improved Chapter" award at the SNDA annual meeting in July in Nashville, Tennessee. The chapter's president, Marvin Baptiste (CDM '08), was also elected as President Elect for the national SNDA organization. SNDA is the student organization at CDM that focuses on community service. During the '05-'06 academic year, the SNDA participated in sixteen different community service events, reaching over 3000 children, high school, and college students.
FACULTY HONORS
Ira Lamster, DDS, dean of the College of Dental Medicine, was appointed to the Board of Directors of The New York State Dental Foundation. The Foundation supports numerous public projects in Oral Health throughout the state, including the Percy T Phillips Visiting Professorship at Columbia, which is now in its 26th year.
Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH, Division Director of Community Health, was appointed to a Committee of the Institute of Medicine/National Research Council designed to address issues in adolescent health care services. Dr Edelstein is the only dentist on the panel which includes professionals from adolescent medicine, an ethicist, a social-psychologist, a pregnancy expert, a child welfare expert, an epidemiologist, an economist, a program evaluator health finance person, and a quality systems engineer. Adolescent health care is a critically underserved area, of which oral health is a substantial issue.
Laureen A. Zubiaurre, DMD Laureen A. Zubiaurre, DMD, associate professor and director of CDM’s third-year predoctoral clinical program, has been named a Fellow in one of the nation’s premiere leadership development programs in health professions education. This distinctive yearlong program, the Leadership Institute of the American Dental Education Association, selects promising faculty members at academic dental institutions and guides them through intensive development in leadership and organization theory, higher education management, team and network building, and other aspects of personal and professional growth.
Over the course of the year, Fellows conduct interviews and participate in activities at their home institutions, where they are mentored by their deans and other academic leaders. The Fellows gather four times for group learning activities. Working in teams, they also conduct a literature review of an issue important to dental education and write a position paper for publication. After completing the Leadership Institute, Fellows continue their networking and learning activities through an active alumni association. This year’s select group of 17 Fellows is the seventh annual class of the Institute. ### 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