Medicine and dentistry students stood beside their posters, brightly catching the eye of anyone who seemed interested in their work, as faculty and fellow students browsed the buzzing hall.
“Each year, we are thoroughly impressed by the quality and rigor of the scholarly work that is presented by our students and, if you have looked at the program booklet and have read the abstracts, this year’s presentations will be no different,” School of Dental Medicine Dean Steven Lepowsky promised that morning, as he welcomed attendees to the 2025 Medical and Dental Research Day.
The energy was infectious. This is the second year the research day has been back in person, after taking a hiatus during the pandemic, and students, faculty, and staff happily mingled while viewing posters on a wildly diverse range of topics, from sexually transmitted disease treatment to maxillofacial surgery.
“Year after year our students make us so UConn-proud with their novel research investigations and professional presentations about them. They surely are poised to become the next generation of physician-scientists,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine.
After the poster sessions, Wenyuan Shi, the chief executive officer of the ADA Forsyth Institute, addressed the students with a keynote on how to combine a satisfying career in the health fields with opportunities for technological innovation and business development.
“Research and innovation have everything to do with being a good doctor,” Shi said.
The dental and medical students presented 102 projects, enough to fill the hallways and lobby near the rotunda as well as the landing on the way to the library. Every poster contained original research done by second-year students. It was impossible for a single individual to speak with every presenter, but below is a sampling of the work presented by the students.
Root to Crown
Longer roots make for stabler smiles: teeth with longer roots compared to the visible crown of the tooth are more likely to stay put. Especially in orthodontics, the length of the root of the tooth is a good predictor of how successful the treatment will be.
“It’s important to have that good anchor,” dental student Stephanie Salcines said. Salcines’s research looked at whether ethnicity correlated with root length in Asian and Hispanic populations. The answer she found was no, aside from the maxillary lateral incisor—but gender did seem to make a difference, particularly among Hispanics.
Fewer X-rays, Same Imagery
A new 3D x-ray technique that uses just half the radiation can identify problems in the sinuses as well as the standard method, reported Erica Mallon. The second-year dental student showed that cone beam computed tomography scans taken only from behind, rotating around the head from one ear to the other, can allow clear diagnosis of blockages, deformations, and other sinus troubles. The 180-degree behind the head technique fully shows the teeth and the sinuses, while avoiding radiation to the sensitive eyes and thyroid gland, Mallon found. Previous research showed this reduces the total radiation dose by 40% to 60%.
“This is a sweet spot between a reasonably low and balanced radiation exposure and the resolution needed for diagnosis and clinical treatment planning,” said Aditya Tadinada, associate dean for graduate research and one of the principal investigators on the project.
Troughs of Tears
The thin skin under the eye often sags with age, particularly the area around the tear trough. It’s a common location for cosmetic surgeries, but there are nerves, major blood vessels and veins that must be avoided. Second-year dental student John Fregene surveyed outcomes of tear trough cosmetic procedures and found that surgeons who followed specific guidelines caused little swelling, no artery damage, no nerve damage, and improved the appearance of the tear trough area.
“There should be a standard protocol to follow in tear trough augmentation,” Fregene said.
Exon of Action in Hyperparathyroidism
Hyperparathyroidism is a rare condition in which the parathyroid glands become overactive, causing jaw tumors, renal and uterine issues. There’s a specific gene that commonly causes the condition, called CDC73. Second-year dental student Lorens Carrasquillo found most of the mutations associated with hyperparathyroidism affected Exon 1, a specific location in CDC73.
Objectively Painful
Pain is notoriously subjective—but maybe not, according to work done by Victoria Abalyan, a second-year medical student. She used microfilments to apply precise amounts of pressure on a patient’s forearm and asked them to rate their perceived level of pain. There was definitely a correlation between level of pressure and level of reported pain, indicating women were reliably reporting their pain levels. All the patients in the study were women within 48 hours of having given birth.
“We want to take data further out, at six weeks, or 24 weeks. We might be able to screen for women who are at higher risk of pain in the postpartum period,” Abalyan said.
Ultrasound in the Emergency Room
Long waits in the emergency room are common and frustrating for patients. Three student researchers looked at whether ultrasounds done right in the emergency room could speed appropriate treatment for patients with three common issues: joint pain, suspected urinary tract infections, and emergency surgery.
Second-year medical student Michael Kosover looked into whether ultrasound could help triage joint pain. And it could—not a single joint pain patient with a normal ultrasound required surgery or admission to the hospital.
“It was 100% sensitivity,” Kosover said. “And the advantage of ultrasound is it’s quicker, no radiation, and portable.”
Delaney Kehoe looked into whether ultrasounds could diagnose urinary tract infections in the emergency room.
“We expected to see if there was a different in the inner wall of the bladder—a thicker layer, because of inflammation, or just different,” Kehoe said. In this case, the answer seemed to be no—but the study didn’t recruit enough patients, so they may continue it to get a larger sample size and clearer results.
Aspiration (inhaling stomach contents) can be a risk during lifesaving intubations in the emergency room. The risk of aspiration is why patients are advised to fast before surgery—but people who need emergency surgery obviously can’t plan ahead. Nicolette Meka evaluated whether ultrasound can reliably determine stomach size, and if so, which angle of the patient’s torso gives the best ultrasound view of their stomach.
“We found coronal—looking at the stomach from the patient’s side—gave 94.6% specificity,” in whether they had significant food in their stomach, Meka said.
Hives on Social Media
Getting hives – those red, itchy raised welts on the skin – happens to a portion of the population all the time, for no apparent reason. Yee Won Kim had them all the time when she was young, and information on how to treat or prevent them was scarce. Now, people are likely to look for advice on social media, the second-year medical student reports in her research.
“Many people are just asking what helped other people—there are a lot of good conversations happening,” Kim says. She collected information on the people and questions surrounding “chronic spontaneous urticaria,” as hives are known, on social media channels including X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Following the poster day, the judging committee, composed of medical and dental faculty, decided on the winners of the competition.
The winners of the 2025 Student Research Day are below.
School of Medicine
CONNECTICUT ACADEMY OF FAMILY PRACTICE: One medical student will receive this $200 monetary gift for excellence in Primary Care Research.
Poster 57 | Survey Connecticut Providers on the Process of Making Patient Referrals to Community-Based Organizations
- Paul Jude Isaac
CONNECTICUT HOLISTIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: Awarded by Dr. Michael Basso, this annual award was established to recognize excellence in research in Integrative/ Complementary and Alternative Medicine. A medical student and a dental student will each receive an award of $100. Special thanks go to Dr. Michael Basso of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association.
Poster 51 | Financial Strain as a Contributor to Cognitive Impairment in Late Life Depression
- Brian Fox
- Madison Witt
DEAN’S AWARD: In recognition of two outstanding medical student researchers and their faculty mentors. Awards of $250 each will be presented to the four awardees. The awards to faculty mentors will be used for travel to a scientific meeting.
Poster 31 | Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Integration in Pediatric Health Care for Patient Education
- Veronica Sofia Arroyo Rodriguez & Dr. Thomas Agresta
Poster 77 | Gastric Distention on Ultrasound: Coronal versus Sagittal Approach
- Nicolette Mary Meka & Dr. Meghan Herbst
MR. AND MRS. JEFFREY GROSS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENT: Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Gross established this award. Dr. Jeffrey Gross is Professor Emeritus at UCHC. Awards of $250 each will be given to two medical student researchers who presented excellent studies. One award will go to an oral presentation and one award will go to a poster presentation.
Poster 47 | In vivo modeling of a novel TEK:GAB2 fusion oncogene reveals targetable oncogenic signaling pathways in angiosarcoma
- Flora Isabella Dievenich Braes
Poster 52 | Visit characteristics from emergency departments caring for persons living with dementia: a nationally representative sample
- James Christopher Galske
JOHN SHANLEY MEMORIAL GLOBAL HEALTH AWARD: The award is to honor the memory of John D. Shanley, MD, MPH, former Chief of Infectious Disease at the University of Connecticut, and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Associate Dean of International Health at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. This award is sponsored by FNE International and will be given in recognition of a project that best exemplifies collaboration towards sustainable services with an international partner. The student will receive a monetary award of $250.
Poster 68 | Assessing Dengue Vaccine Acceptance in Pediatric Caregivers in Kandy, Sri Lanka
- Caitlin Alexandra Lawrence
LAWRENCE G. RAISZ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSCULOSKELETAL RESEARCH:
In honor and memory of Lawrence G. Raisz, M.D., this award of $250 will be given to a medical student researcher who presented outstanding work in the field musculoskeletal research.
Poster 54 | Effect of 4-Aminopyridine and Smoothened Agonist on Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
- Christopher Jesse Garcia
PEER RECOGNITION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH:
This award of $200 will be given to a medical student researcher in recognition of an exemplary poster presentation, as determined by peer review.
Poster 76 | Reassessing Maxillary Sinusitis: Recognizing Odontogenic Origins in the ENT Clinic
- Uma Sandeep Mehta
WILLIAM M. WADLEIGH MEMORIAL AWARD FOR CROSS-CULTURAL AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH: The award is in honor the memory of William M. Wadleigh, PhD, anthropologist and Associate Director of the Center for International Community Health Studies in the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care. This $250 award is given annually to a medical student whose research exemplifies international and cross-cultural understanding of health issues.
Poster 75 | Assessing the Impact of Pediatric Dengue Hospitalization on Caregiver Stress and Functioning
- Meghan Martin
School of Dental Medicine
DEAN’S AWARD:
Student: Sadhana Sankar
Mentor: Dr. Caroline Dealy
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation demonstrating clinical application and technique relating to dentistry. This award consists of an expense-paid trip as the School of Dental Medicine’s representative to the Hinman Student Research Symposium held in Memphis, Tennessee in October 2025.
ASSOCIATE DEAN’S AWARD:
Student: Daniel Kotait
Mentor: Dr. I-Ping Chen
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation in basic, clinical, educational, or behavioral science. The award consists of a complimentary meeting registration and travel assistance to present at the AADOCR General Session & Exhibition in 2026.
DENTSPLY-SIRONA STUDENT CLINICIAN AWARD:
Student: Claire Ann
Mentor: Dr. Frank Nichols
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation. Includes travel assistance to the 2026 AADOCR General Session & Exhibition/Dentsply-Sirona SCADA Program as the School’s representative; allowance for lodging, food and other expenses and a Dentsply-Sirona crystal.
CONNECTICUT HOLISTIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION:
Student: Madison Witt
Mentor: Dr. Gary Schulman
Presented by Dr. Michael Basso, this annual award was established to recognize excellence in research in Integrative/ Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Special thanks to Dr. Michael Basso of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association.
HORACE WELLS AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN DENTISTRY:
Student: Erica Mallon
Mentors: Dr. Pooja Bysani and Dr. Aditya Tadinada
Student: Donny You
Mentor: Dr. David Shafer
Two awards will be given to dental students in recognition of outstanding research with a focus on innovation in dentistry.This award is supported by the Horace Wells Trust.
JAMES AND ELLA BURR MCMANUS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DENTAL RESEARCH:
Student: Bradley Rosenberg
Mentor: Dr. Alix Deymier
Student: Haven Montefalco
Mentor: Dr. Frank Nichols
Two awards will be given to dental students presenting at the student research day to recognize excellence in research. This award is supported by the James and Ella Burr McManus Trust.
DENTAL STUDENT RESEARCH SOCIETY AWARD:
Student: Marcus Costa
Mentor: Dr. Flavio Uribe
Presented for excellence in a science presentation by dental students at the Student Research Day. Special thanks to Dr. Arthur Hand for supporting this award.
GUSTAVE PERL MEMORIAL AWARD:
Student: Henry Shaffer
Mentor: Dr. Dong Zhou
A scholarship award presented for outstanding original research.
OMICRON KAPPA UPSILON-PHI CHI CHAPTER AWARDS:
Two awards given in recognition of outstanding research; the first award is given for basic science research and the second award given for clinical science research.
OKU-Basic Science Research Category
Student: Bryson Christian
Mentor: Dr. Eliane Dutra
OKU-Clinical Science Research Category
Student: Alfredo Rendon
Mentor: Dr. Prazwala Chirravur
We would like to acknowledge generous donations from our many sponsors in support and recognition of the hard work of our dental research students. Special thanks to our judges and research committees for their review of the abstracts, posters and judging this event. And lastly, congratulations to all of our dental student researchers and their faculty mentors for making this day possible.
