Exciting, Energizing, Educational: Science Day 2023 displays new research from GSDM community
Science Day 2023 was conducted in a hybrid format with 45 student presenters between in-person poster exhibits and virtual oral presentations. Photo Credit: Dan Bomba, GSDM.
For more photos of the event, please click here to view our Flickr album.
The weather may have been gloomy, but the Hiebert Lounge was full of cheerful energy as predoctoral students, postdoctoral residents and fellows gathered on Thursday, March 2, to present their latest research during GSDM Science Day 2023.
Forty-five students and residents participated in this year’s event, which was conducted in a hybrid format with poster presentations delivered in person and oral presentations shared via Zoom.
Dr. Maria Kukuruzinska, associate dean for research and predoctoral research program director, said Science Day is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the research accomplishments of students, residents and fellows. All members of the Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) community were invited to attend the event, in order to promote and share the dental school’s research with a broad audience.
“This is an exciting day that demonstrates the diversity of research and scholarship aimed at generating new knowledge, some of which can be translated to improved clinical treatments and patient care,” Kukuruzinska said.
Twenty-six faculty judges participated in Science Day. One of those judges, Dr. Marianne Jurasic, director of the Center of Clinical Research and clinical professor of general dentistry and health policy and health services research, said Science Day allows for lively discussion and analysis.
“It’s important for us to actually understand what is the breadth and scope of the research that happens in our school because we have so many different departments and it’s a wonderful opportunity to really understand what is the work that is happening across the school,” Jurasic said.
Fellow judge Dr. Gennaro Cataldo, professor of general dentistry, said the GSDM curriculum gives students the opportunity to explore interesting research pursuits early in their dental education with the guidance of faculty role models.
“One of the goals of us teaching is to have the students continue on in later years and do research that is going to help further the profession,” Cataldo said. “If you don’t get them thinking about what they are going to do in the future now and how they are going to help the profession, they are going to lose that opportunity.”
After presenting “Treatment Failure of First Permanent Molars After Oral Rehabilitation,” Dr. Farnaz Chehrazi PEDO 23 noted Science Day as a helpful platform to receive suggestions and guidance.
“I have gotten very good feedback and it’s going to help me for the future projects and it’s going to give me some ideas on how I can improve my current project and how I can maybe help my co-residents,” Chehrazi said.
Daniel Morales and Ksenia Sundukova, both DMD AS 23, co-presented “Tooth Shade Selection Preferences Among Adult Patients in Boston University School of Dental Medicine Pre-Doctoral Patient Treatment Center.” In their presentation, they discussed potential variables that can influence the selection of the right tooth shade for restorative treatment. Overall, Morales said tooth shade is incredibly important to the patient, and it is vital to make the correct choice. For Morales and Sundukova, Science Day is about contributing research that can help improve a patient’s care from members of the GSDM community.
“It is super important because if you ask a patient, according to scientific evidence, what is the most important factor for a beautiful smile, most of them will say tooth shade,” Morales said.
Dr. Kiranmeet Kaur, a resident in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery’s minor oral surgery program presented “The Efficacy of Chlorhexidine Compared to Oral Antimicrobial Therapy in the Prevention of Alveolar Osteitis: A Systematic Review of the Number Needed to Treat in Randomized Controlled Trials.” Kaur said Science Day energizes the research spirit in everyone involved from students to faculty members.
“I think it promotes new ideas, new research, new innovations and just to keep improving healthcare,” Kaur said. “We want to do the best for our patients and the only way to do that is by cultivating new ideas and researching existing protocols.”
Note: The keynote presentation by Dr. Mina Mina, Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Training Grant Co-Director from the University of Connecticut Dental Medicine, was cancelled due to illness.