The College of Dentistry displayed its vibrant research community through a variety of events held throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. The centerpiece was the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Iowa Section of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) in February, where students, faculty, and collaborators showcase their latest work and connect across disciplines. In addition, the college hosted research seminars featuring local, national, and international experts across the full range of oral health science. These events provide valuable opportunities for learning, collaboration, and advancing discovery in service of improved oral and overall health.
71st Annual Meeting of the Iowa Section of the AADOCR
78
30
48
The main session for the 2025 Iowa Section of the AADOCR Annual Meeting was recorded. The video above shows the two featured speakers, Dr. Aline Petrin and Dr. Karin Weber-Gasparoni (in order), and our keynote speaker, Dr. Marcelo Araujo, who followed our featured speakers.
Dr. Marcelo Araujo
Keynote Address: How Science is Shaping the Future of Dentistry and Healthcare Policy
Dr. Karin Weber-Gasparoni
Featured Address: Birth to Three – Cavity-Free: A Clinical Trial for Preventing Early Childhood Caries
Dr. Aline Petrin
Featured Address: Epigenomics of Orofacial Cleft
2025 Featured Articles for Research Day
How Worms Provide Insight into Immune Responses of Immunocompromised Patients
Fluoride Skepticism in Focus: Alex Harper’s Research on Attitudes about Fluoride Use
Optimizing Your Research: Collaborating with the Division of Biostatistics and Computational Biology
2025 Iowa Section of the AADOCR Booklet
Research Day Awards and Recognitions
Seminars in Dental Research
10
8
Seminars in Dental Research
Fall 2024 Research Seminars
September 10, Fabio Nascimento, The molecular biology behind the role of the self-assembled peptide P11-4 in collagen structuring, proteolysis prevention, and remineralization in dentin, hosted by Dr. Cristina Vidal, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
October 10, Norman Tinanoff, Caries management pathways for children, hosted by Dr. David Johnsen, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
October 22, Flavia Teles, Unraveling Clinical and Molecular Changes During Periodontitis Progression, hosted by Dr. Sukirth Ganesan, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
November 12, Riva Touger-Decker, Food and Nutrition Insecurity: Vital Signs to assess in our student and patient populations, hosted by Dr. Teresa Marshall, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
December 10, Kirstin Artinger, Genetic and epigenetic regulation of neural crest development, hosted by Dr. Eric Van Otterloo, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Spring 2025 Research Seminars
January 28, Dewey Lee, Riding the Digital Wave: From Facial Scan to AI, hosted by Aaron Cho, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
February 25, Russell Pesavento, Synthetic Salivary Protein Biomimetics and Their Potential Therapeutic Role in Oral Medicine, hosted by Teresa Marshall, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
March 25, Xianghong Luan, Epigenetic regulation of odontogenic lineage specification and periodontal homeostasis, hosted by Hongli Sun, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
April 8, Hyuk Jae Edward Kwon, Regulation of tooth and palate development by MLL4: understanding dental birth defects through the lens of developmental epigenetics, hosted by Jun Cao, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
April 29, Clarissa Souza Gomes da Fontoura, From Discovery to Practice: Emerging Directions in Dental Research and Innovation, hosted by Aline Petrin, Galagan B, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.