{"id":142015,"date":"2018-09-27T12:17:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T16:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=142015"},"modified":"2019-01-28T16:58:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T21:58:46","slug":"growing-biomedical-research-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/09\/growing-biomedical-research-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing the Biomedical Research Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now in its fourth decade of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Training Program<\/a> at the UConn School of Dental Medicine continues a rich tradition of producing researchers with a strong basic science background.<\/p>\n

At the program\u2019s annual symposium this week, 16 scientists-in-training shared their findings through oral or poster presentations. They include Ph.D. candidates, DMD\/Ph.D. combined degree candidates, and postdoctoral fellows.<\/p>\n

\"Krebsbach,
From left: Dr. Paul Krebsbach, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry, Jon Goldberg, UConn Health professor of biomedical engineering, Dr. Mark Herzberg, director of the University of Minnesota Craniofacial Research Program, Dr. Sharon Gordon, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine, and Dr. Mina Mina, chair of UConn’s Division of Pediatric Dentistry, at the Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Training Program’s 2018 symposium. Mina and Goldberg are the program’s co-directors. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UConn\u2019s is one of 13 dental schools in the United States with a research-focused training grant supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the NIH.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur program is unique in that we\u2019re very strong in basic science,\u201d says Jon Goldberg<\/a>, professor of biomedical engineering, who co-directs the program with Dr. Mina Mina<\/a>, chair of the Division of Pediatric Dentistry. \u201cPart of our objective is to create a pipeline to develop future researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a multidisciplinary program with mentors from beyond the dental school, including the UConn School of Medicine, the Graduate School, and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.<\/p>\n

In her first symposium as dental dean, Dr. Sharon Gordon<\/a> told the trainees they\u2019re following in some very successful footsteps, noting that alumni hold positions of leadership across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longstanding support of this program by the NIDCR speaks to the vision of integrating research and research training into the dental education program,\u201d Gordon says.<\/p>\n

Fifth-year DMD\/Ph.D. candidate Michelle Spoto received the William B. Upholt Student Achievement Award in recognition of her scientific achievements and progress, and extracurricular involvement. Upholt, who died in 2016, was the training grant\u2019s co-director for the first 25 years, before turning the program over to Mina. This is the first year of the award in his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot of wonderful things about Dr. Upholt, both on the scientific side and on the side of public policy and political activism,\u201d Spoto says. \u201cIt really is an honor to be recognized as a well-rounded individual rather than as someone who\u2019s \u2018just doing science\u2019 day in and day out, but as a whole person too, which I think the award embodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michelle
Michelle Spoto delivers her presentation on the human microbiome at the 2018 Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Training Symposium. Later, the fifth-year DMD\/Ph.D. candidate would receive the William B. Upholt Student Achievement Award. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spoto volunteers at the American School for the Deaf, giving public health lessons. Hours before she accepted her award, she delivered the symposium\u2019s first oral presentation. It was a summary of the work she\u2019s been doing at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine<\/a> (JAX) studying the human microbiome \u2013 the trillions of organisms that live in and on the human body.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything she\u2019s learning can be applied to the mouth, be it gums, dental decay,\u201d Goldberg says. \u201cShe\u2019ll have the research training to better understand what she\u2019s seeing as a dentist. And her training at Jackson is world class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spoto\u2019s mentor is Julia Oh<\/a>, assistant professor of genetics and genome sciences and microbiome researcher at JAX.<\/p>\n

“Michelle is exceptionally qualified and well-rounded,\u201d Oh says. \u201cShe has proved herself outstanding in many areas \u2013 academically, as an educator, as a mentor, and certainly as a scientist. I\u2019m so pleased and proud that her achievements can be formally recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh was the symposium\u2019s keynote speaker, also presenting on the human microbiome, likening its ecological complexity to that of a rain forest populated by \u201cincredibly versatile\u201d organisms.<\/p>\n

The world of research training grants is a very competitive one, not only for the funding itself, but also for attracting the brightest scientific minds. UConn\u2019s grant (NIDCR T90 DE021989) is up for renewal in 2021. Leadership will use feedback from an oversight advisory committee to identify opportunities to further strengthen the program.<\/p>\n

The advisory committee, which attended the symposium, includes Dr. Mark Herzberg, director of the University of Minnesota Craniofacial Research Program, and Dr. Paul Krebsbach, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry.<\/p>\n

Kresbsbach is a graduate of the program he\u2019s now evaluating. He was at UConn Health in the mid 80s for both a Ph.D. and a residency in periodontology. Before that he graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, where he was one of Herzberg\u2019s students. Both have directed similar programs at other institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an incredible cohort of young clinician-scientists-in-training who challenged each other and had fun together,\u201d Krebsbach recalls of his time at UConn. \u201cI think that UConn has maintained a strong research and research training tradition. UConn is one of the unfortunately somewhat small number of really research-oriented schools of dentistry that maintain the necessary tradition of understanding that ours is a learned profession based on a foundation of science.\u201d<\/p>\n

A more recent graduate of the Skeletal, Craniofacial and Oral Biology Training Program is Dr. Jessica Costa<\/a>, who now is on the UConn Health faculty as an assistant research professor in the Center for Molecular Oncology.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally what makes this program so competitive in attracting both grants and trainees is the environment that fosters the complete education of dental students,\u201d says Costa, who completed the combined DMD\/Ph.D. program in 2009. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important for basic science researchers to be informed in their questions by real clinical problems. It\u2019s important to get the big picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pitmon
Elise Pitmon explains her research to Dr. Sharon Gordon, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One example of how the program has adapted to scientific advances is in the area of bone biology. Goldberg says this area of study has evolved to include tissue regeneration and tissue engineering. There\u2019s also a greater focus on mathematical modeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of our job is to say, \u2018What skills are these kids going to need 20 years from now,\u2019\u201d Goldberg says.<\/p>\n

For Spoto, who\u2019s more than halfway through the program, 20 years from now ideally would be well into her tenure on the faculty of a large dental school.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of this program, we can be prepared to independently research questions in dental medicine and oral biology and craniofacial biology, and even though our projects aren\u2019t necessarily dental related, it gives us the skill set to have those careers in the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Spoto is one of only six DMD\/Ph.D. candidates at UConn. Another is Emma Wentworth, who\u2019s in her second year in the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very exclusive program, it\u2019s very hard to get into, their expectations for us are very high, and I think that\u2019s a very reasonable thing because it helps prepare us for what is ahead,\u201d Wentworth says. \u201cIt makes us all very close, and we\u2019re definitely willing to exchange advice with other people, and they\u2019re always willing to take the time to personalize either your program or take the time to talk to you about who they think would be the best mentor for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her presentation at the symposium was on her study of bacteria in the mouth and their potential impact on oral mucositis, a painful condition common in cancer patients in which mouth sores can increase infection risk and hinder the ability to eat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis research training program is a jewel in the crown of UConn; not just in the School of Dental Medicine or UConn Health, but across the university,\u201d Gordon says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only 13 dental schools in the country have a research-focused training grant from the NIH. UConn’s is one of them, and has been for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":142033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-142015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 07:33:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/142033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142015"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=142015"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=142015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}