College Of Dental Medicine Faculty And Students Demonstrate Leadership In Field
NEW YORK, NY, August 3, 2007 – Faculty and students of Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM) have recently demonstrated their leadership in the field of dental medicine with a variety of honors and activities.
INTERNATIONAL DENTAL AID
An interdisciplinary team of dentists, dental students, anesthesiologists, and nurses from Columbia University Medical Center joined colleagues from around the country in traveling to Ecuador to perform free surgeries on children with cleft lip and palate deformities. The mission successfully treated nearly eighty patients and provided dental pediatric screenings for many more. Corrective eye procedures were also performed by two ophthalmologists who joined the team. The team included CDM faculty members Vincent Carrao, M.D., D.D.S. and Martin Kaminker, M.D., postdoctoral residency fellow Snehal Patel, M.D., D.D.S., dental assistant Estela Nieves, and students Stephen Petty (CDM, 2008) and Yandresco Quintana (CDM, 2008).
FACULTY HONORS
Panos Papapanou, D.D.S., Ph.D. was named the recipient of the Clinical Research Award by the American Academy of Periodontics (AAP). Dr. Papapanou serves as Professor and Chair of the Section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences and is the Director of the Division of Periodontics at the College of Dental Medicine. Dr. Papapanou was selected for the award by the AAP Board of Trustees for his contributions to the field with his extensive periodontal research. He will be presented with the award in October at the Academy’s annual meeting.
The Dental Pipeline Program, based at Columbia University Medical Center, was awarded a $4 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The program was originally created in 2001 with a $19 million dollar grant from the RWJF to address the lack of sufficient dental care in underserved areas. The Dental Pipeline program seeks to establish partnerships between dental schools and community dental clinics by bringing dental students and dental residents into the clinics to work. In return, the students and residents are provided with continuing education opportunities, ensuring that they keep abreast of the latest developments in the field. In distributing the $4 million dollar grant, The Dental Pipeline National Program Office at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) will provide technical assistance, grants and contracts to other dental schools and professional organizations, aiding in the promotion and implementation of the Dental Pipeline in dental schools nationwide.
Christos Angelopoulos, D.D.S. Christos Angelopoulos, D.D.S. has been named Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry and Director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Program at CUMC’s College of Dental Medicine. Dr. Angelopoulos comes to Columbia from the University of Missouri- Kansas City where he served on the faculty and completed the Graduate Program in Diagnostic Sciences. Dr. Angelopoulos will lead and oversee the continued development of the College of Dental Medicine’s pre-doctoral and oral radiology didactic and clinical curriculum, and the conceptual planning and implementation of a school-wide conversion to digital radiology. He also will pilot the launch of a faculty practice in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. Dr. Angeloupoulos earned D.D.S. degrees from the Schools of Dentistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece and the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.
Jennifer P. Bassiur, D.D.S. has been appointed Director of the Center for the Oral, Facial and Head Pain, a clinical care facility offering an interdisciplinary approach to the diagnosis, management and treatment of acute and chronic oral, facial and head pain. Dr. Bassiur has also been named Assistant Professor of Clinical Dentistry in the College of Dental Medicine, Section of Hospital Dentistry. Dr. Bassiur received her D.D.S. degree from the University of Maryland. She completed her general practice residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center and a two-year residency program in Orofacial Pain and Dysfunction at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry. Dr. Bassuir became board certified in Orofacial Pain in 2006.
Louis Mandel, D.D.S. has been invited to speak at both the American Thyroid Association Meeting on Oct. 6, 2007 and the Second International Congress on Salivary Gland Disease taking place Oct. 19-21, 2007. Dr. Mandel, a salivary gland expert, is the Assistant Dean for Extramural Hospital Programs and Clinical Professor in Oral Surgery. Both events are sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Department of Otolaryngology.
STUDENT HONORS
The College of Dental Medicine’s Class of 2010 had the second highest Dental Aptitude Test scores of the nation’s 56 dental schools, according to the American Dental Education Association’s “Official Guide to Dental Schools,” published this spring. The 78 students in the class had an average score of 22.2.
Philip Josephs, (CDM, 2008), who is working towards a joint DDS/MPH degree, has been awarded the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Pre-Professional Award. He was selected in recognition for his work in improving minority student recruitment and retention and will be presented the award at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in November. The prize is given to pre-doctoral dental students or dentists who have demonstrated commitment to community-based research or a service project related to oral health.
Eugene Ko (CDM, 2010) and Nancy Okeke (CDM, 2010) have been selected as recipients of National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. They were among twelve selected from 56 colleges of dentistry nationwide who applied. The eight-week internship will allow for the students to work alongside innovators in the field and participate in groundbreaking medical research.
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The College of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, founded in 1917, is located in northern Manhattan. In addition to providing education programs for pre- and post-doctoral candidates, CDM conducts research in state-of-the-art facilities and oversees an extensive community-based service program for residents in the surrounding community – a federally designated medical and dental manpower shortage area. Outreach into the community includes dental programs in seven area public schools, a dental van, and three off-site community-based dental clinics, providing state-of-the-art care to an underserved population as well as a rich learning environment for students at CDM.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and public health professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions.