January 27, 2012
Research Day 2012 took place in the UBC Student Union Building Ballroom. All faculty and students attended the annual event.
On January 24, 2012, during UBC Dentistry’s annual research day forum—now in its fifth year—several members of the faculty including graduate students, and an internationally renowned researcher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented their progressive work in the areas of biofilm dynamics, control, eradication, significance of treatment failures, and community strategies to manage dental caries.
Biofilm, often simply described in the dental field as “plaque”, is an aggregate of microorganisms that preferentially grow in slime-enclosed communities and have an inherent resistance to disinfectives, antibiotics and host defences. These biofilm properties are the basis for dental diseases such as caries, root canal infections and periodontal diseases.
Ali Bozargzad from Sinclair Dental (L) is seen with Dr. Bill Costerton and dental hygiene student Michele Moreira. Michele is the winner of an iPad presented by Sinclair Dental, the Presenting Gold Sponsor of Research Day 2012.
“Biofilm Disease Dynamics: From Understanding to Eradication” titled the day and the program continued the effective approach of using a clinical case to introduce the need to conduct basic research and the translation of research findings into patient care applications. This year’s case, provided by MSc student Dr. Mark Parhar, was endodontic failure which demonstrated the clinical significance of failing to effectively eradicate root canal biofilms.
British Columbia native Dr. Bill Costerton, from the Center for Genomic Sciences, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, provided the keynote address, an outstanding review of the role biofilms play in disease. He is widely credited with having founded the field of biofilm microbiology.
Other highlights of the day include research poster viewing, undergraduate and graduate student research poster awards, and research photo contest awards.
Undergraduate and graduate student research poster award winners
Rana Tarzemany, PhD candidate
Graduate Student Research Poster Award, PhD Research category, Research Day Poster Competition, for “Connexins Regulate MMP-1 Expression and Function in Fibroblasts”
Ellen Park, MSc/Dip Endo candidate
Graduate Student Research Poster Award, MSc Research category, Research Day Poster Competition, for “Measurement of Apical Pressure Using Positive and Negative Pressure Irrigation”
Allison Nichols, DMD 2015 candidate
Undergraduate Student Research Poster Award, Senior Undergraduate Research category, Research Day Poster Competition, for “Kinetic Characterization of a Novel Class of Anti-Collagenase Cathepsin-K Inhibitors”
TaekHyun (Fran) Rhee, DMD 2014 candidate
Undergraduate Student Research Poster Award, Novice Undergraduate Research category, Research Day Poster Competition, for “Mechanism of RAW 264.7 Macrophage-Mediated Depletion of Hydrogen Peroxide”
Visit the Research Day 2012 page to find the schedule of topics, program booklet and research abstracts.