During the program’s ten-week summer component, students work in the School of Dentistry’s state-of-the-art laboratories and clinics. Hands-on duties encompass a wide range of research tasks, such as conducting literature searches, preparing specimens, doing record reviews, gathering data and analyzing results.

At the end of the summer, each produce a research paper and submit a research abstract for the next national meeting of the American Association for Dental Oral and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) at which they present their research results.

On July 18, the Summer Scholars also participated in a closed competition to determine UMKC’s representative for the 2025 Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application (SCADA), which will be held at the AADOCR meeting.  Sara Haggard was selected as the winner to represent the dental school as our student competitor at the national SCADA competition hosted by Dentsply Sirona at the AADOCR Annual Session in March 2025 in New York. Sara’s mentors were Dr. Erin Bumann and Ms. Portia Hahn Leat.

Dr. Mary Walker (Program Director), Talia Thambyrajah, Tia Kahwaji, Drake Dugan, Sara Haggard, Kylee Meloy, Prof. Emma Kaz Frick (Program Coordinator)

Upon successful completion of the program, students earn one credit hour of independent study. (See below for a complete list of the scholars, mentors, and projects.)

Project: Multiple Functions of Novel Dopamine-Derived Biomimetic Crosslinkers in Dentin Bonding
Scholar: Drake Dugan, DDS Class of 2027
Mentors: Dr. Yong Wang, Dr. Viviane Hass

Project: Wnt5a in Mandibular Bone Mineral Density & Microarchitecture
Scholar: Sara Haggard, DDS Class of 2027
Mentors: Dr. Erin Bumann, Portia Hahn Leat

Project:  Gene x Gene Interactions in Cleft Lip / Cleft Palate
Scholar: Tia Kahwaji, DDS Class of 2027
Mentor: Dr. Timothy Cox

Project: Decoding Contracts: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Dental Employment Agreements
Scholar: Kylee Meloy, DDS Class of 2027
Mentors: Dr. Melanie Simmer-Beck, Dr. David Thein

Project: Effects of the RANKL Inhibitor OPG-Fc on Osteoclast Dynamics
Scholar: Talia Thambyrajah, DDS Class of 2027
Mentors: Dr. Sarah Dallas, Dr. David Moore, Dr. Kun Wang