Faculty News of Note

Posted on by Ken Honas

VESNA FERRER
Clinical Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
Received the 2017 Michael Matlof Memorial Orthodontic Faculty Development Fellowship Award, which will support her research project “Curriculum Content in Clinical Skills Development in Orthodontics for Predoctoral and Advanced Education Programs.” Dr. Ferrer is working with Associate Dean Cindy Amyot and Assistant Research Professor Chris Van Ness on this project.

Was selected for a 2017 scholarship from the American Association of Orthodontists to participate in a two-part Academy of Academic Leadership Program. Dr. Ferrer was one of four orthodontic faculty from the U.S. and Canada sponsored for the program this year.

TANYA GIBSON
Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology, Medicine and Radiology

  • Was accepted as a 2017-18 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute Fellow. Dr. Gibson accepted the honor at the 2017 ADEA Annual Session and Exhibition in March in Long Beach, Calif.

LYNDAL GRAY HOLMES (DDS ’65, MS ’77)
Adjunct Associate Professor of Periodontics

  • Received the 2016 CEO Award from the City Union Mission homeless shelters of Kansas City.

TANYA VILLALPANDO MITCHELL
Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene

  • Was selected as a recipient of the 2017 American Dental Education Association (ADEA)/Colgate-Palmolive Co. Allied Dental Educators Fellowship. Tanya accepted the honor at the 2017 ADEA Annual Session and Exhibition i March in Long Beach, Calif.

CYNTHIA PETRIE (DDS ’01, MS ’00)
Chair of the Dept. of Restorative Clinical Sciences & Dr. George Tanaka Hawaii Professor

  • Completed the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute, a year-long fellowship offered through the Academy of Academic Leadership. The fellowship is designed to develop individuals from academic dental institutions to become the future leaders in dental education.

ROBERT EDWARDS (DDS ’81)
Clinical Assistant Professor of Endodontics

  • Received the Elmer Pierson Good Teaching Award for the School of Dentistry. The award recognizes his dedication to excellence in teaching, his mentorship to students and his respectful manner in which he interacts with students, faculty and staff. He was honored along with 22 other awardees during the UMKC Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony on April 25, 2017.

REBECA WEISLEDER
Clinical Associate Professor in the Dept. Endodontics

  • Published “Is Vital Pulp Therapy Fiction or a Real Treatment Option,” an editorial, in the Journal of Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research, Volume 3(2):1-2. Jan 2017.

CONNNIE WHITE (DDS ’81)
Associate Professor & Director of Patient Relations and Assistant Dean for Community Relations & Communication

  • Was installed as the secretary of the Academy General of Dentistry during the academy’s annual meeting, July 14-17, 2016, in Boston, Mass. Dr. White also is a candidate for president-elect of AGD

SHANKAR RENGASMY VENUGOPALAN
Clinical Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics with a joint appointment in Oral & Craniofacial Sciences (OCS)

  • Was elected to one of two open director positions on the Executive Committee, Craniofacial Biology Group, of the International Association of Dental Research (IADR).
  • Has been selected to participate in the 2017 U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative/Bone and Joint Canada — Young Investigators Initiative — Grant Mentoring and Career Development Program. The program involves two workshops to aid research proposal development leading to a grant application submission. He will work with Dr. Mark Johnson, chair of OCS, and other assigned mentors in this enrichment program.
  • Received a $20,000 award from the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation to carry out four developmental plans in the areas of education, teaching skills, clinical skills and research.
  • Received the 2017 Robert E. Binder Orthodontic Faculty Development Award in support of his research project (with Dr. Craig Whitt, chair of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine), “Genomic Analyses in Ameloblastoma.”

UMKC SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY

  • Restorative Clinical Sciences faculty, Drs. Donna Deines, Lance Godley, Moid Karwaa, Marvin Kramer, Ahmed Zarrough, and UMKC Dental Laboratory Supervisor Chris Curtis attended a 2-day seminar hosted by Ivoclar Vivadent at their headquarters in Amherst, N.Y., in March 2016. Prompted by an increasing use of e.max CAD blocks, an Ivoclar product, to mill Cerec restorations, faculty were interested in a more in-depth understanding of the material and its properties. The seminar, led by Ivoclar’s Director of Professional Services Dr. Shashinkat Singhal, examined the materials science on a number of dental materials currently used at the School, as well as materials being considered for future use. Of special interest were shade selection, staining, and crystallization of IPS e.max CAD materials that are currently used for indirect restorations milled using the CEREC BlueCam system.
  • Received a 2016 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. UMKC is one of only three dental schools in the country to be recognized. The magazine selected the UMKC School of Dentistry for reasons that included: commitment as an urban-serving university to be engaged in the community; developing innovative and successful pipeline programs; and working with University Academy, a K-12 charter school, to establish a dental clinic in the community.
  • Hosted the annual Bien-Air International User Forum, sponsored by Bien-Air, a Swiss dental instrument manufacturer, on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. This gathering of international guests provided a great opportunity to showcase the UMKC School of Dentistry to the global dental community. The forum’s 80+ participants include dental school educators from 30 universities in Europe, Middle East South America, and North America.
  • Hosted the annual meeting of the Business and Financial Affairs and Clinical Affairs (BFACA) section of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), October 5-8, at the Marriott Downtown Hotel. UMKC School of Dentistry administrators Dr. Linda Wells, associate dean of Clinical Programs, and Jeff Primos, director of Business Administration, organized the planning for this national meeting of dental educators and administrators. Meeting participants were treated to a special reception at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City’s 18th and Vine District.