Mr. Ed Kardos, Development Director, has published his second book entitled Zen Master Next Door.  A quote from his website (www.edwardgkardos.com) describes the book as "They are parables about our many relationships and how they touch our soul. Relevant and timely, these parables or stories underscore our yearning to live an inspired life and they show that deep-rooted and ancient ideals are as mainstream as our very exchanges with our neighbor next door."  The book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

On Friday April 27, I had the opportunity to attend and speak briefly to the Northern Virginia Dental Society members attending their continuing education course at the Waterford in Fair Oaks, Virginia.  By coincidence, a member of the VCU School of Dentistry DDS Class of 2011, Dr. Milan Simanek (photo) was inducted as a new member in the NOVA Dental Society.  Since I only had about five minutes to speak to the group, I gave them a Frequently Asked Questions about the dental school.

Frequently Asked Questions.pdf

Collin Rice, D2013, made an appearance on Wheel of Fortune on April 13, 2012.  The show aired in Richmond at 7 pm.  Collin won the show edging out the two other contestants.   He made us proud and VCU School of Dentistry received great visibility.  Congratulations Collin!

Today I had the pleasure to speak to the members of the Old Dominion Dental Society at their meeting at the Omni in Richmond.   I provided a brief update on the VCU School of Dentistry and information on VCU Health Sciences Student Pipeline Programs.  These programs are designed to bring diversity to our academic programs.  To learn more visit the VCU Division for Health Sciences Diversity website (http://www.dhsd.vcu.edu/).  I would like to thank Drs. Barry Griffin and Randy Adams for inviting me to the meeting and a nice welcome.   Here is a link to my presentation to the Old Dominion Dental Society.

Old Dominion Dental Society Presentation.pdf

This morning on the NBC Today's show there was segment reporting on a recent study that linked dental radiographs with brain tumors.  Dentist typically will receive questions about this, more so soon after the report is issued.  Here is a statement from the ADA that provides useful information as well as a link to recommendations for dental radiographs.

http://www.ada.org/6972.aspx

Here is a link to the publication by Claus et al.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.26625/pdf

On March 27, we dedicated the Graduate Periodontics Clinic as the J. Gary Maynard Jr., D.D.S. and Richard D. Wilson, D.D.S. Clinic at the VCU School of Dentistry.  This event was attended by over 50 members for the Maynard and Wilson families and members of the VCU School of Dentistry community, particularly the Department of Periodontics.  The naming of this clinic was to honor the contributions of Drs. Maynard and Wilson to the educational programs at the School of Dentistry and to their scientific and clinical contributions to dentistry in restorative dentistry and periodontics.  They are leaders in the interdisciplinary relationships between these fields of dentistry.  Days like this are fun days for deans! Here is link to the ceremony remarks.

Maynard-Wilson Clinic Dedication.pdf

 Dr. Tom Waldrop speaking about the contributions of Drs. Wilson and Maynard and the personal impact on his career.

Dr. Sam Malkinson speaking about learning from Dr. Maynard as a periodontics resident at VCU.

The official moment of dedication of the clinic.

The VCU Chapter of the American Student Dental Association organized and hosted a pre-dental day for over eighty students who are considering application to dental school.  Student came from Virginia and surrounding states and as far as Pennsylvania.  The half-day program included a welcome address by Alex Barton (D2013), mock interviews, DentSim, clinic tours, tooth waxing, and a closing session with Dr. Healy who provided the students with excellent advice on the admissions process.  There were many volunteers from the staff, students and faculty to put on this fantastic program.  Jamie Yuan (D2013) and Alex Barton led the program organization. Thank you all and thank you for letting me participate in the program. Pictured below is Dr. Healy addressing the group while our student volunteers listen. To learn more and see more photos, checkout these ASDA postings.

http://www.asdablog.com/vcu-hosts-predental-students/

http://www.asdablog.com/vcu-hosts-predental-students/

Alex Barton (D2013) has been elected Vice President and Member of the Board of Trustees for the National American Student Dental Association (ASDA).  Congratulations Alex and the VCU ASDA Chapter.  Here is link to the complete ASDA Board membership.

http://www.asdanet.org/_NewsPage.aspx?id=8586

Tonight we held our first dinner session bringing together the leadership from the dental, dental hygiene classes and the student government, and the student dental associations to meet with the school's leadership.   This is an open forum for exchange of information about things happening in the School of Dentistry and important issues for students.  Below is an agenda and some informational slides.

deans_dinner_march_2012_agenda.pdf

deans_dinner_march26_2012.pdf

American Dental Education Association meeting in Orlando, Florida: Presentations and Representation

Dr. Julie Kim, General Practice

Consumers' Choice of Dentist: How and Why People Choose Dental School Faculty Practice as Their Dentist

Presentation Type: Poster Session

M.J. KIM, P .DAMIANO, and J. HAND

Preeti Sastry, D2012

Evaluation of Admission Criteria to Predict Performance Among Non-U.S.-Trained Dentists at the VCU School of Dentistry

P.K. SASTRY and R. GOTTLIEB

Dr. Charles Janus, Prosthodontics

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

An application for Summative Assessment and Student Feedback, as Well as Formative Assessment Supporting Criteria Validation and Faculty Calibration

Rebecca Pousson, Associate Dean

Using New Technology to Engage Students and Faculty in Low-Cost Online Practice Management Courses

Presentation Type: Video

Alex Barton, D2013 is serving on the ASDA Board of Trustees and Vice President

As one of the Vice Presidents of ASDA, she was an invited guest to the ADEA meeting. The American Student Dental Association (ASDA) is a "sister" organization to ADEA.  Alex was joined by the other Executive Committee members of ASDA; Colleen Greene (President of ASDA and a D3 student at Harvard), Ben Youel (Vice President of ASDA and a D3 student at University of Chicago), and Nancy Honeycutt (ASDA's Executive Director).

Aaron Laird, D2013 represented VCU in the Council of Students

Dr. Mary Baechle, General Practice, represented VCU in the Council of Faculty

Kim Isringhausen served on the Council of Allied Dental Program Directors and on the Reference Committee for Association Policy.

American Association for Dental Research: Presentations

Steve Clawson, D2012

Evaluating EDTA as a Substitute for Phosphoric-Acid-Etched Enamel and Dentin

Presentation Type: Oral Session

S.C. CLAWSON, T.A. IMBERY, A.M. BEST, and P.C. MOON

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper154994.html

Cheyanne Warren, D2013

Immune Signaling in TLR9-/- Murine Macrophages Infected with Porphyromonas gingival is

Presentation Type: Poster Session

C. WARREN, T. WYANT, S. YANAMANDRA, H. MIYAZAKI, A. YEUDALL, and J. LEWIS

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper158337.html

Dr. Mary Baechle, General Practice

Dentists' Attitudes Regarding Diagnostic Codes in Dentistry

Presentation Type: Poster Session

M.A. BAECHLE, A.M. BEST, and C. JANUS

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper155080.html

Dr. Dan Laskin, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and Dr. Al Best, Director of Faculty Research Development

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residents' Understanding of Biostatistics

Presentation Type: Poster Session

A.M. BEST and D. LASKIN

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper156335.html

Robert Amos, D2013

Shear Bond Strength of Three Resin-modified-glass-ionomers Following Six Surface Treatments

Presentation Type: Poster Session

R.W. AMOS, T.A. IMBERY, A. DUNCAN, A. NAMBOODIRI, A.M. BEST, and P.C. MOON

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper155073.html

Lindsey North, D2013

Bond Strengths of Nanocomposite Using Different Conditioners and Bonding Agents

Presentation Type: Poster Session

L.E. NORTH, T.A. IMBERY, A.M. BEST, and P.C. MOON

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper155008.html

Sina Sadeghi, D 2012

Prevalence of MRSA in Dental Settings

Presentation Type: Poster Session

S. SADEGHI, A.E. ROSATO, D.H. SHERVIN, and D.M. LASKIN

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper158040.html

Dr. Riki Gottlieb, General Practice

Towards an Automated Caries Detection System Using Intra-Oral Photographs

Presentation Type: Poster Session

L. GHAEDI, R. GOTTLIEB, and K. NAJARIAN

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper157761.html

Dr. Peter Moon, General Practice

Flexure Strength and Compressive Fracture Force of Aged Composite Resins

Presentation Type: Poster Session

P.C. MOON, S. DIXON, and S. FILIPONE

http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2012tampa/webprogram/Paper158137.html

Dr. David Sarrett

I was invited to participate in a panel discussion entitled "Bridging Gaps Between Dental Standards Development and Industry which was organized by the ADA Standards Committee on Dental Products (SCDP) (http://www.ada.org/280.aspx) and the Dental Trade Alliance (DTA) (http://www.dentaltradealliance.org/). This event was part of the annual meeting of the ADA SCDP.  The SCDP is the national group which develops standards for dental products and participates in the International Standards Organization to publish manufacturing standards.  With me on the panel were Napoleon Monroe (DTA and formerly with Henry Schein), Scott Erickson (SCDP member representing the DTA and from 3M ESPE Dental Products), Mike DiBello (DTA and Henry Schein), Greg Zeller (ADA Division of Science), Shannon Mills (SCDP past Chairman and Delta Dental), and Ken Anusavice (SCDP past Chairman and University of Florida).  The session was moderated by Jeff Zawada (current SCDP Chairman from A-dec) and Sharon Stanford (SCDP Secretary from the ADA).  Standards development work is not well known but extremely important to insure we have the best products to use and to permit manufacturers to market their products globally.  Have you ever thought about why any USB plug will plug into any USB port?  People have to agree internationally on such things.  Not always easy.

Sorry if I missed having a photo.  If you have photos of other presenters please send them to me and I can add them to this post.