Student Research Competition Winners Announced

On Friday, August 23, 2024, the College of Dental Medicine held its annual Student Research Competition. Please join us in congratulating each of this year’s winners!

Grand Champion         Samantha Lee (Class of 2026)
First Place                   Justin Nguyen (Class of 2026)
Second Place              Daniel Yevseyevich (Class of 2026)
Third Place                 Claudia Eisenhuth (Class of 2025)
Fourth Place               Jacob Gardner (Class of 2026)

Runners-up include Taylor Nguyen (Class of 2026), Kristina Vu (Class of 2026), Aditya Deshpande (Class of 2026), Ryan Kinney (Class of 2026), and Gabriel Eisenhuth (Class of 2026).

Each competition winner has been invited to present at the 29th Annual Hinman Student Research Symposium in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, Samantha Lee, the competition’s grand champion, has been selected to represent Roseman University at the national Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application (SCADA) held during next year’s American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) annual meeting.

When Samantha got the news of her victory, she was surprised and grateful. “Initially, I was really shocked when I was chosen as the winner,” she remarked. “I am super thankful to everyone who supported me and helped me with my project. I also want to thank my faculty research mentor, Dr. Hung, who none of this would be possible without.”

In her prize-winning project, Samantha explored the relationship between vitamin D and periodontal disease in postmenopausal women. The idea for this research came to Samantha during her first year of dental school.  She recalled, “I learned that loss of alveolar bone (the bone that holds and secures our teeth in place) is a main characteristic of periodontitis, which is the final and most advanced stage of periodontal disease. Upon learning this, I became curious as to whether females experience more periodontal disease—specifically periodontitis—as I knew they have a higher tendency for bone loss.”

“Vitamin D became a focus of my project,” she continued, “because vitamin D levels are known to be reduced in osteoporotic patients and also because it has a potential preventative role against bone loss. I chose to focus on postmenopausal women because women experience the most bone loss during this life stage.”

Samantha’s research on bone density began while she was studying at University of California, Los Angeles. During her undergraduate degree, she collaborated on a project with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study craniofacial bone density in mice in outer space. Of the project, she said “This was an experience I’ll never forget!”

This early work also captured her administration’s attention. In her university’s annual research competition, she was recognized with the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Science Research.

After completing her degree, she continued her research on craniofacial bone mineral density in mice while working in a research lab. “These years were super invaluable to me, as they sparked my love for both research and dentistry,” she recalled. “Most notably, the projects I worked on revealed to me that [the] craniofacial bone is an important biomarker for growth, development, and or disease. I also learned that females experience higher rates of bone loss and osteoporosis, especially as they age.”

For Samantha, this research is compelling because of its potential application. She explained, “The findings could have implications for half of the world’s population!”

As a competition winner, Samantha has been invited to participate in several other research competitions. “I am excited for the upcoming Hinman Student Research Competition in November because this is a smaller conference with dental students from all across the country.” She shared, “I am more nervous for the SCADA Competition next March during the annual AADOCR conference because I will have to present to a panel of 10 judges in a closed room.”

Since the competition results were announced, Samantha has been approached by several peers who are interested in conducting research with her. She remarked, “I am super grateful that this experience has given me the opportunity and platform to help others get more involved with research at Roseman.”