Research Day at SIU SDM Recognizes Global Impact of Research
Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) continues to show its commitment to student and faculty research through its annual Research Day. The event recognizes the global significance of outstanding research to advance the dentistry profession and dental education.
“The dedication of the faculty mentors amalgamated with the genuine interest of the student researchers who worked together during the year, resulted in exciting research initiatives presented at the event,” said Nathalia Garcia, DDS, MS, SIU SDM interim director of research and chair of the Department of Applied Dental Medicine. “The support from the school administration sponsoring numerous proposals was fundamental in promoting the development of these projects.”
This year’s keynote topic, presented by Marco Bottino, DDS MSc, PhD, FADM, associate professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan, highlighted novel strategies to regenerate dental and oral tissue using engineering tools and stem cell therapies.
“The implementation of personalized or customized technologies for oral tissue regeneration is coming very close to reality in clinical practice,” said Garcia. “These technological developments in regenerative medicine generate exciting solutions in dentistry for predictable therapies to improve patient care. We have been fortunate to have access firsthand to this amazing scientific information.”
"SDM's Research Day was a tremendous success this year," said Saulius Drukteinis, DMD, PhD, MS, dean of the SIU SDM. "We are thankful to our guest speaker Dr. Marco Bottino for joining us as well as Dr. Nathalia Garcia and Michelle Shatto for organizing the event. The hard work of our student researchers and faculty mentors was truly evident and a wonderful opportunity to showcase their accomplishments."
Following Bottino’s presentation, second-year dental students, Brian Babulic and Julia Fryzel, were presented with the first-place award for the SDM Table Clinic Competition for their research entitled, “Analyzing the Masseter Muscle with Custom Software”.
As the winners of the competition, one of the students will represent SIU SDM and attend the 2024 IADR/AADOCR/CADR General Session and Exhibition in the spring of 2024 to participate in the global Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research.
Photos: SIU SDM Research Day keynote speaker Marco Bottino, DDS MSc, PhD, FADM, associate professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan.
(L-R) Julia Fryzel, second-year dental student; Nathalia Garcia, DDS, MS, SIU SDM interim director of research and chair of the Department of Applied Dental Medicine; Saulius Drukteinis, DMD, MS, PhD, dean of SIU School of Dental Medicine; Brian Babulic, second-year dental student.
