VBRS 2015 Newsletter

Vernon Brightman Research Society
fall Newsletter

Welcome!to!the!Vernon!Brightman!
Research!Society!Spring!Newsletter,!
where!you!will!find!the!most!up!to!
date!information!on!current!research!

and!opportunities!for!research!at!
Penn!Dental!!

Fall!2015!Edition!

Upcoming!Events! Welcome!!

WINE%&%CHEESE%RECEPTION! Hey!there!!Thanks!for!reading!the!Vernon!Brightman!
Research!Society’s!newsletter!!VBRS!is!the!primary!
February(4th,$2016! student!research!organization!at!Penn!Dental!Medicine.!
Meet$the$researchers$and$,ind$a$project!! Since!its!inception,!VBRS!has!helped!numerous!students!
find!their!niche!in!research!both!within!and!outside!of!
! Penn.!The!society!aims!to!promote!interest,!
VENDOR'DAY'! participation,!and!appreciation!of!basic!and!clinical!oral!
health!research!that!keep!dentistry!a!science!and!
April&28,&2016! researchNbased!profession.!As!future!healthcare!
Learn&about&current&oral&health&research&and& providers,!it!is!vital!that!we!be!able!to!critically!analyze!
products!! the!results!of!oral!health!findings!as!well!as!the!efficacy!
of!newly!developed!dental!materials,!tools,!and!
! techniques.!This!newsletter!highlights!research!
PROPOSAL'WRITING'WORKSHOP! accomplishments,!resources!and!upcoming!events!
happening!here!at!Penn.!We!hope!you!enjoy!!!
March&15,&2016! !
Learn&to&write&an&excellent&proposal!&! Yours!Truly,!!
VBRS!Board!!
! !
RESEARCH'POSTER'WORKSHOP!
! Upcoming)Conferences:)
March&15,"2016! Amer!!!icaMna!ArscAsho!n1cn6iauNt1ailo9!Mn,!2!eo0ef1!tDi6ne!ignn!t!aLl.!AR.e! search!
Improve(your(poster(design(skills!!

!
STUDENT'RESEARCH'DAY!

May$12th,"2016!

See#what#projects#your#classmates#have#done!!

Summer!Research!!
at!Penn!Dental!Medicine!

Description:!Students!work!full!time!in!July!and!
August!with!a!faculty!preceptor!on!a!mutuallyN
agreed!upon!research!project!in!basic!laboratory!or!
clinical!sciences.!The!purpose!of!this!program!is!to!
provide!dental!students!a!chance!to!experience!a!
“hands!on!perspective”,!especially!for!those!
interested!in!pursuing!research!oriented!careers!in!
the!oral!health!field,!thereby!promoting!dentistry!as!
an!academic!and!research!based!medical!science.!

How)to)Apply:)Students!must!submit!a!proposal!
describing!the!project!and!fill!out!an!application!
form:!!

http://www.dental.upenn.edu/research/student_res
earch/summer_research_program!

Application)Due)Date:!Midnight!on!March!31,!2016.!!

Contact:!Dr.!Joseph!DiRienzo,!Assistant!Dean!of!
Student!Research!

Student Spotlight: Kazuma Kitagaito

Kazuma!Kitagaito!(D’17,!MSE’17)!is!a!student!in!the!Honors!in!Research!Program!under!the!supervision!of!Dr.!
Fusun!Ozer,!Associate!Professor!of!Restorative!Dentistry!at!Penn!Dental!Medicine.!Kazuma!is!currently!
focusing!on!selective!inhibition!of!dentinal!MMPN8!with!the!use!of!MMPN8!derived!peptide!inhibitor,!
Extracellular!Matrix!Protection!FactorN2!(ECPFN2)!and!is!comparing!the!findings!with!the!results!of!CHX!
application.!
Kazuma!Kitagaito!has!recently!been!recognized!for!his!clinical!research!with!an!award!presented!at!the!21st!
Hinman!Student!Research!Symposium,!recently!held!in!Memphis,!TN!among!95!other!outstanding!student!
presentations.!His!research!evaluated!the!preNtreatment!of!composite!resin!restorations!with!the!antimicrobial!
agent!chlorhexidine!gluconate!(CHX)!as!an!intermediate!step!in!inhibiting!the!matrix!metalloproteinases!
(MMP)!to!preserve!resin/dentin!bond!durability.!The!clinical!implications!of!such!treatment!may!help!to!
prevent!the!occurrence!of!restorative!failure!from!endogenous!MMP!activities!on!collagen!degradation.!The!
results!indicated!that!pretreatment!of!dentin!surfaces!with!CHX!increased!bond!durability!after!one!year!in!
vitro!aging!of!the!dentin!samples,!making!it!a!potentially!viable!option!to!help!strengthen!composite!resin!
restorations.!

“My!research!experience!at!Colgate!introduced!me!to!an!entirely!new!aspect!of!the!dental!

profession.!I!learned!so!much!about!basic!and!clinical!research!and!got!to!work!with!people!
of!many!different!scientific!backgrounds.!Much!of!the!research!focused!on!the!chemistry!

behind!different!dental!products!on!the!market,!which!will!definitely!be!beneficial!when!it!

comes!to!making!clinical!decisions!for!my!future!patients.”!!

–Christine)Esposito,)D2,)Colgate)Intern)
!
“As!a!dental!student!NN!the!opportunity!to!work!in!industry!is!invaluable!experience.!

You!attain!a!whole!new!appreciation!for!oral!care!consumer!products!and!the!

research!which!goes!into!their!production.!Working!for!Colgate!was!a!decision!I!

won’t!regret.”!!
ERobbie)Sansevere,)D2,)Colgate)Intern)

!

Colgate Clinical Research NIH/NIDCR Summer
Internship Student Dental Program

Description:!This!is!an!8Nweek!program!(midN Description:!8!week!summer!research!program!
June!to!midNAugust)!that!will!provide!an! at!the!NIDCR!!
industryNrelated!research!experience!for!students!
that!have!an!interest!in!research!and!will!allow! How)to)Apply:!Complete!the!Summer!Internship!
the!student!to!better!understand!industrial! Program!Application!on!the!NIDCR!website!at!
research!prior!to!beginning!their!professional! www.nidcr.nih.gov!!
career!
Application)Due)Date:!March!1,!2016!!
How)to)Apply:!Please!visit!website!at!
www.colgateNpalmolive.com!for!more! Contact:!Deborah!Philip,!
information! [email protected]!!

Application)Due)Date:!TBA!

”This!past!summer,!I!had!the!opportunity!to!work!in!the!Molecular!Physiology!and!Therapeutics!
Branch!at!the!NIDCR.!My!project!focused!on!further!exploring!the!association!between!high!

levels!of!BMPN6!and!Sjögren’s!syndrome,!I!left!the!NIDCR!with!a!different!outlook!on!research:!

what!I!used!to!believe!are!tedious!experiments!can!have!a!significant!impact!in!a!clinical!setting.!

I!recently!assisted!for!a!patient!with!Sjögren’s!syndrome!and!I!felt!proud!to!have!worked!in!a!lab!
with!such!great!researchers!whose!goal!is!to!investigate!techniques!to!treat!this!disease.”!!

–Lovika)Karla,)NIDCR)Intern,)D2)

“! During!my!summer!at!the!NIDCR,!I!worked!on!improving!bone!fracture!healing!models!by!
!creating!a!mouse!model!to!study!bone!regeneration!using!dental!burs!with!a!drill!hole!model!

aimed!at!greatly!improving!the!study!of!how!different!genetic!factors!affect!bone!regeneration.!

Being!an!NIDCR!Summer!Research!Scholar!allowed!me!to!forge!friendships!and!bonds!with!

other!dental!students!across!the!country,!and!it!was!an!incredibly!enriching!and!enjoyable!
experience.”!!

NTeresa)Yang,)NIDCR)Intern,)D2!

FACULTY!SPOTLIGHT:!
Dr.!Henry!Daniell!

Dr.! Henry! Daniell! joined! Penn! Dental! Medicine! in! June! 2014! as! Professor,! Departments! of!
Biochemistry!and!Pathology,!and!Director!of!Translational!Research.!A!molecular!biologist!earning!
a! biochemistry! Ph.D.! from! Madurai! Kamaraj! University,! India.! Dr.! Daniell! plans! to! save! lives!
through! delivering! drugs! with! plants.! Packed! with! human! genes,! his! specially! engineered! plants!
offer! a! novel! platform! for! producing! and! delivering! pharmaceuticals.! Over! the! last! decade,! Dr.!
Daniell! and! colleagues! have! conducted! extensive! research! on! several! hundred! proteins! with!
potential!for!insertion!into!plants!that!could!then!be!encapsulated!and!easily!administered.!Using!
experiments! in! model! organisms,! Dr.! Daniell! and! colleagues! have! had! great! success! at! tackling!
some!of!medicine’s!most!daunting!conditions.!
Dr.! Daniell’s! lab! has! also! developed! oral! vaccines! against! polio,! cholera,! malaria,! tuberculosis,!
anthrax,! and! plague.! “We’ve! shown! that! we! can! deliver! vaccines,! we! can! deliver! insulin! for!
diabetes,!and!we!can!even!use!this!to!treat!autoimmune!disorders!by!teaching!the!immune!system!
to! tolerate! certain! drugs! that! can! cause! severe! immune! reactions,”! says! Dr.! Daniell.! Dr.! Daniell’s!
technique! also! has! the! potential! to! navigate! the! bloodNretina! barrier! as! well! as! the! bloodNbrain!
barrier—a! critical! step! in! treating! neurological! diseases! like! Alzheimer’s.! And! his! approach! to!
manufacturing! insulin! boasts! an! advance! over! currently! available! insulin! as! it! provides! the!
complete,!three!chain!protein;!current!formulations!are!missing!the!C!chain.!
Dr.! Daniell’s! work! has! attracted! attention! from! multiple! funding! bodies,! including! the! National!
Institutes! of! Health,! the! Juvenile! Diabetes! Research! Foundation,! and! the! Bill! and! Melinda! Gates!
Foundation.! At! its! core,! Dr.! Daniell’s! work! aims! to! improve! the! human! condition! with! the! same!
energized! sense! of! innovation! that! led! to! the! tech! boom.! “Unlike! the! fantastic! inventions! that! we!
see! in! things! like! cell! phones! and! IT! and! so! on,! medicine! hasn’t! had! the! same! types! of! leaps! and!
bounds!of!progress,”!says!Dr.!Daniell.!“I!see!a!lot!of!room!for!improvement,”!he!says.!!!
!

O! ther Happenings at Penn Dental Medicine….

Kelly)L.)JordanESchiutto,!along!with!her!collaborator,!Judith!B.!Grinspan!at!CHOP,!found!that!compounds!
from!certain!class!of!antiretroviral!medications,!the!essential,!lifeNextending!drugs!used!to!treat!HIV,!
disrputed!the!differentiation!of!oligodentdrocytes,!crucial!brain!cells!that!manufacture!myelin!and!may!
contribute!to!some!of!the!cognitive!problems!that!patients!!being!treated!for!HIV!EXPERIENCE.!Studies!
aimed!at!finding!alliterative!strategies!reduce!the!cognitive!side!effects!of!these!lifeNsaving!therapies.!!
!
Dana)Graves!along!with!other!researches!from!PDM!in!a!study!of!the!mechanism!of!healing!complications!
in!diabetics!found!that!the!transcription!factor!was!needed!for!normal!wounds!but!in!diabetic!wounds!
interfered!with!healing.!This!was!due!to!the!impact!of!high!glucose!levels,!which!caused!Fox01!to!switch!
from!stimulating!TGFNβ1,!thus!helping!healing,!in!normal!mice!to!stimulating!CCL20!and!ILN36γ,!thus!
interfering!with!healing,!in!diabetic!mice.!
!
!

Dental Library Resources

The Dental Library Homepage can link you to all of our important databases and other online resources. You can find us
at: http://www.library.upenn.edu/dental

Here’s just a few of our most important resources: Access resources without visiting the Library!

PubMed Plus Proxy Bookmark
PubMed Plus is your best bet to find articles related to Browsing e-resources on campus is easy. Most of our
dentistry. We all search Pubmed, but is it sometimes journal and database providers are able to detect that you
difficult to find what you need? The library has developed are on campus, and give you access to the high-quality
videos that focus on important search techniques to help content that Penn provides. Off-campus is another story.
you access information quickly and efficently. The videos If you are looking for articles on the web by using Google
may be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/pubmedvideo Scholar or by going directly to a vendor's site, and you
haven't logged in (or "proxied") as a Penn user, we've
Lexicomp Online for Dentistry made a browser bookmark button to help you log in
Struggling to find out what effects various medications without going all the way back to the Library web
have on dental treatment? Don't forget Lexicomp Online site. Learn more
for Dentistry, which highlights pharmaceutical information at: http://guides.library.upenn.edu/nettools
relevant specifically to the Dental professional. Lexicomp
Online for Dentistry can be found on the Dental Library's BrowZine
homepage or at: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/91276 BrowZine is a tablet-based alerting service that allows
you to browse, read and monitor many of the Penn
Exam Master - NBDE Part 1 Libraries journal subscriptions on your iPad, Android or
Exam Master’s board review for the NBDE (National Kindle. It works by pulling together articles from library
Board Dental Exam Part 1) contains over 2100 practice and subscribed databases, uniting them into complete issues,
review questions with detailed explanations. Questions are and displaying them in a “newsstand” type
organized into over 30 subjects for quick and presentation. Learn more at:
comprehensive review. This resource can be found on the http://appsontap.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/browzine-is-
Dental Library's homepage or now-available-to-the-penn-community/
at: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/97844

Questions? Want to Get Involved?

Contact the VBRS Exec Board!
Co-Presidents: Catherine Campbell & Heliya Ziai

Vice President: Hassan Khan
Secretary: Shreya Kota

Treasurer: Augusta Ankoh
D2 Representatives: Christine Tsai & Yassmin Parsaei

D1 Representatives: Alex Zega & Brian Carr