Each year the predictable cycle of cours-es taught, experiments planned, com-mitee meetings

Department of BiomeDical ScienceS

• 3302 Gaston Ave. • Dallas, Texas 75246 • http://bcd.tamhsc.edu/education/bms/index.html April 2010, Volume 4, Issue 1

Dr. Rena D'Souza

BmS newSBmS newS

Message from the Chair

MicroCT reconstruction showing internal vascular structure within a semitransparent segment of gorilla alveolar cortical bone

Finite element model of a gracile australopithecine from South Africa (STS5)

MicroCT reconstruction showing a semitransparent calcium car-bonate scaffold with internal bone ingrowth in red

scheduled and professional meet-ings attended is interwoven with the unique, innovative and sometimes unpredictable events that occur every year as we strive to meet our goals. This past year was no differ-ent in the Department of Biomedi-cal Sciences (BMS): it included a mixture of the familiar structure of teaching, research and service re-sponsibilities and within each of those realms, new innovations and ways of doing things that kept our teaching, research and service ac-tivities in step with and in some cas-es, a step ahead of other biomedi-cal sciences groups. This newsletter reports on such activity in 2009 and early 2010 in the Department of Bio-medical Sciences.

The big picture tells us that academ-ic dentistry is threatened and at the crossroads. Hence, departments like BMS serving as hubs for biomed-ical research in dental schools must

assume greater responsibilities. BMS faculty recognize that the new knowledge created through original research provides the framework for clinical applications in dentistry and medicine and that such information is critical for evidence-based deci-sion-making in clinical settings. To transform a fairly traditional curric-ulum, our faculty have spearhead-ed many activities by taking knowl-edge generated from basic, trans-lational and clinical research to the classroom and clinics. We are proud that we are part of this cycle of transformation and pleased that we have engaged students at all levels of development as well as our clinical faculty colleagues.

The year was also marked with many achievements in grant fund-ing, as several faculty were success-ful in obtaining support through the American Recovery and Reinvest-ment Act of 2009. These awards helped us mentor high school sci-ence teachers (see page 9) and dental student researchers (see page 4), enriched our current grant activities and created a new mech-anism with the P30 award for us to recruit new faculty with expertise in

bioengineering (see page 10).

As technology continues to change our lives on an almost daily basis, its application to the classroom brings new challenges and opportuni-ties. The availability of course ma-terial via Camtasia and Blackboard has transformed students' learn-ing experiences, and now the entry of dental education into “Second Life” offers another learning experi-ence through virtual dental Grand Rounds (see page 3).

Our goal for each year should be to make what is good even better in all areas of our activity. We suc-ceeded in 2009 in this regard and look forward to the opportunities during 2010 to advance our teach-ing, research and service contribu-tions to HSC - Baylor College of Den-tistry. I am most grateful for the sup-port and mentorship of the Dean, Dr. James Cole - without his help I would have not have grown profes-sionally and personally in this role. I also remain proud to work with a tre-mendously talented and dedicated group of individuals within and out-side BMS.

(See article pg 6)

Who's Who page 2

Message fromthe Chair: p. 1

BMS Personnel:p. 2

Teaching Highlights:p. 3 - 4

Research Highlights:p. 4 - 6

FacultyNews:p. 7

Department News:p. 8 -10

Invited Presentations/ Publications:p. 11-12

Leadership:p.13

Leadership/Grants: p. 14-15

Contacting the Department:p. 15

News Notes:p. 16

Inside this issue:

Editors: Dr. Emet SchneidermanJeanne Santa Cruz

Layout: Mary Noon

ProfessorsRena D’Souza, DDS, PhD, ChairPaul Dechow, PhD, Vice ChairCharles Berry, PhD; Associate Dean, Academic Affairs Larry Bellinger, PhD; Associate Dean, Research and Graduate StudiesDavid S. Carlson, PhD HSC Vice President, Research and

Graduate StudiesJerry (Jian) Feng, MD, PhDRobert Hinton, PhDLynne A. Opperman, PhD, Director of Technology DevelopmentKathy Svoboda, PhD, Graduate Program Director

Associate ProfessorsJay Groppe, PhDAllen Honeyman, PhDBob Hutchins, PhDPhillip Kramer, PhDChunlin Qin, DDS, PhDEmet Schneiderman, PhDAvadhesh Sharma, PhDRobert Spears, PhDFred Williams, PhDBrendan Wong, PhD

Assistant ProfessorsM. Douglas Benson, PhDYongbo (Bob) Lu, MD, PhDGabriele Mues, MD, PhD Jayne Reuben, PhD L-Bruno Ruest, PhD

Professors, AdjunctWilliam T. Butler, PhDEdward E. Ellis, DDSRichard Finnell, PhDEric N. Olson, PhDKenneth E. Salyer, MDGottfried Schmalz, DDS, PhD

Associate Professors, AdjunctLaura Mitchell, PhDJoseph Newman, PhD Fen Wang, PhD

Assistant Professors, AdjunctMohammed El-Salanty, MD, PhDPaul Ezzo, PhDDavid Genecov, MDRichard King, MD, PhD Mikhail Samchukov, MD

Professors EmeritusPatricia Blanton, DDSRoy Dorris, PhDLoy Frazier, PhDTommy W. Gage, PhDJames McIntosh, PhDEdward G. Miller, Jr., PhDAlan N. Taylor, PhDMartin Wagner, PhDThomas E. Winford, PhD

Office StaffMarge PalmaNancy AnthonyJoyce HahnJeanne Santa Cruz

Laboratory StaffEmily BealAdriana CavenderPadmalaya DasClaudia FernandezTian GaoKatrina GrapeNathan HoffConnie KimShannon KramerJan LaYucheng LiKun LvLinda RobertsKevin SpainLeslie SmithJo TaylorConnie TillbergVanessa WingerJingfeng WuLilin XiangYixia (Anita) XieSusan Yassin

Postdoctoral ResearchAssociatesZheng Guo Cao, PhDSymone San Miguel, PhDMaria Serrano, DDSYao Sun, DDS, PhDYing Wang, DDS, PhDXiaofang Wang, PhDRong (Shelly) Zhang, PhDYanping Zhang, MDQinglin Zhu, PhD

Graduate StudentsJohn BondsJulia ChangMani ChopraRoberto CarilloLeticia FerreiraHageer GlessaLakshmi GorugantulaElias KontogiorgosVeera MalaviaMohammed MansourMatt McBrideHoa NguyenAfsaneh RangianiJoe RawlinsSammer RazaqMonica PrasadPavi PugalagiriJyoti PuriCara SmithShankar VenugopalanAnika VoiseyAlbert YamoahWenli YuUriel Zapata

Dental Student Research TraineesLola AtobajeunWade BarkerMitra BoulouriMeredith BrownleeRoddy CastellsPaul DyerCaytlyn FoyCorbin GatlinBrianda HernandezSarah KamaliIda KhobahyGreg KnutsenJennifer LeeKaren LiangJamie MartinezAmbily MathewsNiyati MehtaMegan MillerAllen MortimerRichland MoselyEddie PalosJesse ParsonsManshi PatelAndrew PhilleyHoward PricePaige PriourDrew VanderbrookSara VaughnAmatey WenselJamie Wong

Teaching Highlights

BMS Faculty Contribute to Evidence-based Dentistry Efforts at BCD

Members of BMS and other BCD departments forge ahead to integrate ev-idence-based dentist-ry (EBD) into the den-tal curriculum in a pro-gram supported by an NIH R25 grant called "Clinicians Using Sci-ence Produce Inspired Dentists" or "CUSPID”. The aims of this initiative, if achieved, will result in a graduating dentist who is better equipped to analyze and fil-ter the massive amount of informa-tion to which he/she will be subject-ed and to decide whether and/or how to incorporate this information into the treatment of patients. Fur-ther, these efforts may be able to ex-cite a small subset of DDS students to

enter into academic dentistry and/or clinical research.

In keeping with the goal of implementing this evi-dence-based dentistry curriculum one year at a time, a new two-semes-

ter D2 course, Application of Evidence-Based Den-

tistry I, was introduced in Fall 2009 by the same faculty (Dr. Paul

Dechow, Biomedical Sciences, and Dr. Hoda Abdellatif, Public Health Sci-ences) who direct the D1 EBD course. Several times per semester, each stu-dent participates in small group ses-sions led by these faculty, as well as Dr. Emet Schneiderman, in which they critique clinical research articles on topics selected to mesh with their

D2 pre-clinical coursework. At one session in each semester, each stu-dent prepares a Critically Assessed Topic (CAT) report based on a clini-cal scenario written by BCD clinical faculty and presents this report orally to his/her group and course faculty. An important feature of this course is the pairing of an EBD core faculty member and a clinical faculty mem-ber for each small group session. This approach has been very successful in providing a clinical perspective on the evidence presented, especially in the CAT.

The faculty involved in this effort are encouraged by the results of a survey called PEAK (conducted by Dr. Ann McCann, BCD Director of Assess-ment) that assesses practices,

Dr. Bob Hutchins, Associate Profes-sor in Biomedical Sciences, and Dr. Bill Wathen, Asso-ciate Professor in General Dentistry, are setting sail into uncharted virtual waters. They have teamed up with faculty at the Uni-versity of Kentucky College of Dentist-ry to create a learn-ing experience that no other dental school in the world has done: they are planning virtual dental grand rounds that third- and fourth-year stu-dents at multiple dental schools can tap into to learn about real-life dental scenarios using online technologies. The overall objective of this exercise is to support integrated basic and clini-cal information in a discussion of pa-tient treatment needs.

Using an online 3D virtual world called "Second Life (SL)", Dr. Hutchins and colleagues have begun to develop a grand rounds dental experience. They envision inviting clinicians in var-ious specialties to present important, evidence-based issues as the sub-

Virtual Dental Grand Rounds

ject matter of each grand round. Ba-sic science faculty will participate to provide foundational support for the integration of the subject matter. The format to be used will include sever-al short segments modeled after the Burton and Roth grand round format (N Engl J Med 340:1516, 1999). For the pilot grand round, a clinical fac-ulty member at each participating school will coordinate a group of 3-5 students, and an SL expert will over-see the meetings and assist with the guest speakers. The participants will communicate primarily via the com-puter keyboards; the speakers' pre-sentations will be transmitted using microphones to allow voice commu-

nications over the Internet.

After further work piloting this effort, the virtual grand rounds at Baylor College of Dentistry may evolve into a dental course selective that meets once a month. The ability to bring together colleagues at distant loca-tions and provide an exchange of in-formation would, according to stu-dent surveys, provide a unique learn-ing experience not currently avail-able at other dental schools. This use of a "virtual world" has already been adopted at other U.S. dental schools. The use of SL as a training tool for the delivery of educational content is now a part of the curricu-lum at the dental schools of the Uni-versity of Maryland and Case West-ern Reserve University. For example, at the University of Southern Califor-nia School of Dentistry, students have the opportunity to test their decision-making skills with interactive virtual patients.

Because of the work of Dr. Hutchins and colleagues, Baylor College of Dentistry will soon join the list of Amer-ican dental schools making greater use of technology to teach the cur-riculum. They are looking into the fu-ture, and the future looks "virtual."

continued page 4

page 3Teaching Highlights

Teaching Highlights & Research Highlightsexperience, attitudes, and knowl-edge about EBD. The survey includes questions designed to document each participant’s habitual informa-tion sources, experience in reading and evaluating the dental literature and in research and related activi-ties, attitudes about EBD and inter-est in clinical/ translational research, and a test of EBD knowledge based on a short research report. When PEAK was administered to D1 (EBD-trained) and D2 (EBD-naïve) stu-dents in Spring 2009, the trained D1 students indicated that they were more interested in learning about re-search careers (p<0.05) and teach-ing p<0.001) than the untrained D2 students and believed that EBD had changed the way they read clinical articles (p<0.001).

In another EBD-related effort, BMS faculty members Dr. Robert Hinton

(contact PI for the R25 grant) and Dr. Robert Spears have taken the first step toward an expansion of the scope of BCD's traditional, basic sci-ence-focused Research Day to in-clude topics and activities of inter-est to clinical faculty and D3-D4 stu-dents. The Research and Scholar-ship Day program held in April 2009 included clinical case presentations by four D3 and four D4 students in ad-dition to the usual basic and transla-tional research presentations. In 2010, they anticipate adding presentations by D2 students on the best of the CATs from Fall 2009. The faculty are optimistic that these changes will be instrumental in increasing the visibili-ty of EBD-based efforts and start the process of greatly expanding the au-dience for this event to include most BCD students and faculty.

Dr. Spears is also developing the Den-

tal Scholars Track, a four-year enrich-ment track for three entering D1 stu-dents that will provide them with a variety of research and teaching-re-lated experiences characteristic of a dental academician. The three stu-dents chosen for 2009-2010 partici-pated in faculty-mentored research projects in Summer 2009, and two of the three submitted AADR student research fellowship applications for 2010. They have also attended BCD seminars featuring speakers on de-velopmental biology of the craniofa-cial region and craniofacial surgery, preceded by a journal-club discus-sion of one of the speakers’ articles. In the second year of this program, DS participants will attend a clinical research workshop as well as clinical research-related presentations at UT-Southwestern Medical School while continuing their summer research involvement.

Biomedical Sciences (BMS) becomes very busy during June and July each summer due to the influx of dental student research trainees who sign up to spend time in the lab of one of the BMS faculty members. They get hands-on training and experience in research techniques and protocols and are expected to present the re-sults of their research at the annual meeting of the American Associa-tion for Dental Research (AADR) the following spring.

The success of the student research program at Baylor College of Den-tistry (BCD) is due in large part to the considerable efforts and devotion to the program by Dr. Robert Spears, As-sociate Professor. He and BCD were recently recognized by the AADR for having the most abstracts submitted to the annual meeting and also for having the most new members. BCD tied with the University of Michigan for these honors.

Students at the graduate level per-form research as part of their degree programs and also present their re-search at the International/Ameri-can Associations for Dental Research

Student Research is Alive and Very Well in BMS!

(IADR/AADR) annual meetings, as well as other professional society meetings.

Anika Voisey Maria Serrano

Paul Dyer Karen Liang

At the 2010 Amer-ican Associa-tion for Dental Re-search meeting, several BCD stu-dents won awards for their work.

DDS/PhD student Anika Voisey (men-tored Dr. Jerry Feng) was award-ed 2nd place in the Senior Cate-gory, and Dr. Ma-ria Serrano (men-tored by Dr. Kathy Svoboda) was a finalist in the Post-doctoral Category, of the presti-gious AADR Hatton Awards compe-tition. For her award, Ms. Voisey will be funded by the AADR to present her results at the IADR meeting in July 2010 in Barcelona, Spain.

D2 student Paul Dyer (mentored by Dr. Svoboda) was awarded third place, and D2 student Karen Liang (mentored by Dr. Spears) was a final-

ist, in the Basic Sciences Category of the DENTSPLY/Caulk competition.

Two BCD DDS stu-dents were each awarded a high-ly competitive AADR Summer Research Fellow-ship: John Bonds (mentored by Drs. Rena D’Souza and Gabriele Mues) and Ida Khobahy (mentored by Dr. Spears).

Travel Awards from the AADR Mineral-ized Tissue Group were awarded to

two students: Yao Sun, PhD student mentored by Dr. Chunlin Qin, and Amatey Wensel, D2 student men-tored by Dr. Feng.

D3 student Niyati Mehta finished her term as Vice-President of the AADR National Student Research Group. At the meeting, D2 student Jennifer Lee became the new Secretary for the organization.

page 4Teaching Highlights & Research Highlightscontinued from page 3

page 5Research HighlightsResearchers Study the Mechanism of Regenerating Dental Tissues

The loss of tooth structures to com-mon diseases like caries and peri-odontal disease and also to trau-ma imposes significant emotional and financial burdens on patients and their families. The placement of dental fillings and root canal treatments are the most frequently performed dental treatment meth-ods that will prevent the loss of the entire tooth in most cases. Howev-er, simply replacing living tissues with inert materials cannot fully re-establish their physiological functions. In a project fund-ed by an IADR Glaxo-Smith-Kline grant awarded to Drs. Rena D'Souza at BCD, Jeff Hartgerink of Rice University, and Gottfried Schmalz of the University of Re-gensburg (Germany), novel, re-generative treatment options are being sought to maintain the vital-ity of the dentin-pulp complex and thus, the tooth itself.

These researchers believe that a critical need exists to develop bio-logically based therapeutics pro-moting new dentin formation and restoring vitality by stimulating the regrowth of pulp. Such materi-als can be combined with current therapies to better preserve the in-tegrity of the dentin-pulp complex. Advances in tissue engineering, nanotechnology and stem cell bi-ology have made it possible to de-sign and test such new biomimetic materials.

The most promising among the new generation of delivery sys-tems are synthetic peptide hydro-gels that provide a nanostructured matrix highly similar to an extracel-

lular matrix. Using amino acids as building blocks, short peptides can be designed to self-assemble into nanofibers, form macroscopic gels and entrap living cells. The resulting materials are non-toxic, non-inflam-matory and biodegradable. These studies, which began with peptide amphiphile hydrogels whose self-assembly is driven by the attach-ment of fatty acids, have recently turned toward multidomain pep-tides (MDPs). MDPs can self-as-semble into nanofibrous hydrogels

based solely on their amino acid sequence and do not require a fat-ty acid. These peptides are more functional and versatile. The MDPs have flanking regions that can con-trol the nanofiber length, and bio-active peptide sequences can be attached for cell adhesion, binding of growth factors or other bioactive molecules with therapeutic poten-tial. MDP hydrogels thus represent a novel, versatile material that offers excellent control over nanofiber ar-chitecture, chemical functionality and easy application to small ar-eas such as a tooth cavity due to shear-thinning behavior.

This research program will charac-terize two novel MDPs with biome-chanical properties to guide the re-generation of the mineralized and soft tissues making up the dentin-pulp complex. The aims are two-fold: the first is to generate biomi-metic materials to be used as acel-

Schematic of the multi- domain nanofiber. “Hydrophobic sandwich” in blue, peripheral groups in red.

lular therapeutics with inherent properties to induce the differen-tiation of a targeted population of cells residing in surrounding host tis-sues. This first step is important, as the development of a therapeu-tic for clinical use can be greatly expedited without the use of au-tologous stem cells. However, the need to test whether the addition of tooth-derived stem cells to this biomimetic material will enhance the onset of tissue regeneration is essential. Therefore, the second

goal is to evaluate whether dental stem cells, serving as re-positories within this biomaterial, provide the signals needed for tissue regenera-tion that is a true re-generative response mimicking natural tissue better than the response of tissue re-pair alone.

The fundamental challenge of this research originates in the need to develop a new therapeutic ca-pable of regenerating the den-tin-pulp complex through biologi-cal means. Such an application can be used for regenerating oth-er oral and dental tissues such as alveolar bone and the periodon-tal complex. The goal of this work is to generate new and exciting data that will provide an important entry point into the field of regenerative dental medicine.

page 6Research HighlightsInternational Consortium Studying Early Hominid Feeding Biomechanics Meets at BCD

Biomedical Sciences professor, Dr. Paul C. Dechow, hosted an inter-national group of scientists investi-gating feeding ecology and bio-mechanics in early hominid evolu-tion at Baylor College of Dentistry from December 2-6, 2009. The proj-ect is entitled "Integrative Analysis of Hominid Feeding Biomechanics" and is a collaborative effort among researchers from ten universities and colleges. This work was fund-ed for $2,500,000 by a National Sci-ence Foundation Hominid Grant that runs from 2007 through 2012. The consortium is studying how the facial skeletons of human ances-tors and some primates adapted to withstand the forces imposed by chewing.

The group’s work is facilitated by daily electronic interaction and by an annual progress meeting. This year’s meeting, the second of the project, focused on the integrated investigations of the scientists, in-cluding studies of feeding ecology and behavior in wild living primates, laboratory studies of bone and muscle function during feeding in apes and other primates, detailed studies of the material properties and structure of the facial skeletons of living and fossil primates, com-puter-generated reconstructions of fossil hominid skulls, and the finite element studies of skull deforma-tion and function in fossil hominids and related living anthropoids.

In addition to three days of presen-tations and discussions, the group also toured the facilities at Baylor College of Dentistry and viewed demonstrations of ongoing work involving ultrasonic, mechanical, and MicroCT analyses of primate craniofacial bone, which is unique-ly under investigation at BCD. Ms. Leslie Smith, graduate student, demonstrated complex skeletal re-constructions and analysis using Mi-croCT scanning, and Ms. Amanda Smith, a visiting graduate student

from Dr. David Strait’s laboratory at the University of Albany, demon-strated her experiments involving in vitro loading of a chimpanzee cranium outfitted with a variety of strain gages and force sensors us-ing a universal testing machine.

Overall, the research is examining how the skull's shape has evolved in order to adapt to the forces associ-ated with eating different types of food. It focuses on the skulls of the earliest human ancestors, which ex-hibit a collection of distinctive ana-tomical features in their jaws, fac-es, and teeth. These features have long been thought to be adapta-tions to feeding on very hard or re-sistant food objects, including nuts and seeds, which may have been critical for survival during periods of scarcity. Last year, the group fur-ther developed this thesis in an arti-cle published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienc-es about corollaries between the mechanics of cranial structure and hard object feeding of so-called “fall-back foods” during period-ic cycles of food scarcity. This arti-cle included the first finite element model and detailed mechani-cal analysis of the cranium of an early hominid, that of the famous South African gracile australopith-

ecine fossil (STS5). By examining the functional and evolutionary rela-tionships between diet, skull form, and biomechanics, the research-ers are formulating concepts rele-vant to dentistry and craniofacial medicine. They are also generating data relevant to conservation ef-forts by documenting the relation-ship between ecology and adap-tation in certain primates.

In addition to the scientists from the Texas A&M Health Science Cen-ter Baylor College of Dentistry, the other project participants are from the University of Albany, the Uni-versity of Chicago, George Wash-ington University, Emory Universi-ty, Mercer University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Kan-sas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, and The University of Vienna (Austria).

The group will hold its third meet-ing on October 18-24, 2010, at the

Conebeam CT reconstruction of a chimpanzee hemicranium with semitransparent cortical bone and underlying trabecular bone in red

University of Vienna, which will take place in conjunction with a meet-ing of EVAN (European Virtual An-thropology Network) and will in-clude a special symposium and workshop designed to engage Eu-ropean scientists who are interest-ed in the work of the group.

Lateral view of an adult female gorilla cranium reconstructed from conebeam CT scans. Internal ar-eas of trabecular bone have been segmented and are visible in red through the cortical bone, which is reconstructed as semitransparent to allow the visualization

page 7Faculty News

Dr. Rena D'Souza, professor and chair of biomed-ical sci-ences, has been elect-ed vice president of the Ameri-can Asso-

ciation for Dental Research. D'Souza will serve a four-year term on AADR's board of directors, serving as its vice president in 2010-2011, president-

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents named Dr. Kathy Svoboda of Tex-as A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry as a 2009 Regents Professor. Svoboda, Profes-sor and Graduate Pro-gram Director in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, was hon-ored at the Board of Regents' De-cember 3 meeting in College Sta-tion, Texas. In all, 13 A&M System faculty members were designat-ed Regents Professors for 2008-09. Established in 1996, the Regents Professor Award is bestowed an-nually by the Board in recognition of awardees’ exemplary contri-butions to their university or agen-cy and to the people of Texas. Svoboda, who joined HSC-BCD in 1998, teaches general histology and developmental and cell bi-ology among other foundation-al courses for medical and dental students, as well as graduate-level courses in molecular biology, em-

Dr. Rena D'Souza

Dr. Kathy Svoboda

D'Souza Elected Vice President of AADR, Presidency in 2012

elect in 2011-2012, president in 2012-2013 and immediate past president in 2013-2014.

"I know Dr. D'Souza will be outstand-ing in this leadership position, as she has been a strong advocate of the organization's goals throughout her career," says Dr. James S. Cole, HSC-BCD dean.

D'Souza has served on numerous AADR committees and has been a frequent keynote speaker at AADR annual meetings. From 1999 to 2003, she served on the edito-

rial board of the Journal of Dental Research, the official publication of the International and American Association for Dental Research. In 2005 she was presented the AADR National Student Research Group Mentor Award, a recognition for outstanding faculty advisors.

The AADR is a nonprofit organiza-tion with more than 4,000 members in the United States. Its goals are to advance research for the improve-ment of oral health, to help apply research findings in clinical settings, and to support and represent the oral health research community.

Svoboda Named Regents Professor by Texas A&M System Board

bryology and craniofacial de-velopment. She also dedicates a significant amount of time to mentoring new faculty mem-bers and graduate students. “It is an honor to be recognized by the Board of Regents for men-toring students, postdoctoral fel-lows and young faculty in addi-tion to my research in develop-mental cell biology,” said Svo-

boda. “This recognition emphasiz-es the importance of training new researchers to address the criti-cal need for the systematic study of cellular mechanisms that con-tribute to birth defects and un-derscores the importance of on-going developmental research across the Texas A&M System.” Svoboda earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Ne-braska and her master’s degree in human genetics and a doctorate in anatomy from the University of Ne-braska Medical Center. She com-pleted a postdoctoral fellowship and was an instructor in anatomy and cell biology at Harvard Med-ical School before joining the Bos-ton University School of Medicine, where she became an associate professor in anatomy and neurobiol-

ogy and co-director of the school’s confocal microscopy facility. Svoboda has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and other sources since 1983 and has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Her current research focus is on understand-ing how cells communicate with their environment during fetal de-velopment. She is especially inter-ested in discovering how to pre-vent cleft lip and palate. In anoth-er project, she is studying how nico-tine decreases oral wound healing with the objective of finding treat-ments that will counteract the ef-fects of smoking or other insults that may increase periodontal disease. An elected officer of the Ameri-can Association of Anatomists for 12 years, Svoboda served as President from 2005-2007 and was named a Fellow in 2009. “Dr. Svoboda is certainly worthy of the recognition of Regents Profes-sor as evidenced by her hard work and significant contribution to the areas of research and teaching,” said Dr. James S. Cole, HSC-BCD dean. “We are fortunate to have her at Baylor College of Dentistry.”

page 8

bioengineering and transla-tional research with a focus on tissue engineering. The Depart-ment of Bioengineering at UTA is a center for bioengineering studies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and will provide oppor-tunities for increased research collaborations not only with the new faculty, but also with the present BMS faculty.

Several Biomedical Sciences faculty members participated in the Reconstructive Surgery

Department News Building Partnerships

Several years ago, the De-partment of Biomedical Sciences (BMS) became involved in a partnership formed among a group of north Texas institutions in-cluding Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD) and the University of Texas South-western Medical Cen-ter. An important goal of this NIH-sponsored proj-ect, called the "Clinical and Translational Science

Award" (CTSA) was to promote the transfer of laboratory discoveries to new therapies that improve human health. Other goals of this affiliation are training and mentoring clini-cal investigators, designing new in-formatics tools for clinical research and forming interdisciplinary teams in a variety of research areas. Drs. Paul Dechow and Lynne Opper-man have leadership roles in the CTSA and participate in the devel-opment of clinical and translation-al research initiatives.

More recently, BMS has been ac-tive in the formation of new part-nerships near and far from Dallas. In September 2009, a group of BMS faculty members journeyed to Wu-han, China, to share scientific find-ings and discuss setting up a pro-gram between HSC-BCD and Wu-han University, in which PhD students from the Wuhan University College of Life Sciences may be accepted into the BCD Graduate Program to complete the course work and re-search requirements toward their PhDs. The Dean of the Wuhan Uni-versity College of Dentistry will rec-ommend students for this program who will apply for admission ac-cording to BCD's standard require-ments. The faculty supervision and research support for these students will be provided by BCD during the students' course of study. Also, stu-dents seeking a degree from Wu-han University may be allowed to complete their research require-ment at BCD with the approval of

a BCD faculty mentor. In addition, each institution will promote the ex-change of faculty as visiting profes-sors and visiting scholars for teach-ing and for collaborative research programs. The proposed program will be valid for five years from the time it is formally finalized.

Another new partnership recent-ly formed between researchers in BMS and at the University of Pitts-burgh is supported by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act administrative supplement funds. Mutual interest in the discovery of genes that cause or contribute to congenital tooth agenesis in hu-mans is driving this partnership be-tween Drs. Rena D'Souza and Ga-briele Mues at BCD and Drs. Alex-andre Vieira and Mary Marazita at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. Faculty at both institutions plan to collabo-rate on candidate gene sequenc-ing and genome-wide association studies, which may be extended to include other craniofacial abnor-malities that share similar genetic and developmental backgrounds.

The successful funding of an NIH P30 grant awarded to BCD is open-ing up an avenue of affiliation with the College of Engineering at the University of Texas, Arlington (UTA). This grant provides support for the hiring and development of two new faculty members with expertise in

Dr. Phillip Kramer speaks to a group at Wuhan University. Summit held in Dallas on November

14, 2009. In addition to bringing the participants up to date on innova-tive areas in reconstructive and re-generative surgery, the meeting gave BMS faculty a great oppor-tunity to begin collaboration with outstanding clinicians in this excit-ing area of translational research. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Ken-neth Salyer, Adjunct Professor in BMS and Founder and Chairman of the World Craniofacial Foundation. Dr. Frank Papay of the Cleveland Clinic presented his team’s experi-ence performing the first successful face transplant in the U.S. in 2009. Dr. Gino Rigotti of Verona Hospi-tal Institutes in Italy and Dr. Syd-ney Coleman of New York Univer-sity presented their extraordinary results using adipose-derived stem cells in breast reconstruction follow-ing cancer surgery. From BMS, Dr. Gabriele Mues, Assistant Professor, spoke on clinical applications of genetics in human malformations. Dr. Jerry Feng, Professor, presented a talk about the manipulation of BMP receptors to regenerate cran-iofacial defects. Dr. Emet Schnei-derman, Associate Professor, spoke on the potential for cone-beam computed tomography to resolve some of the long-standing contro-versies in cleft lip and palate repair. This meeting underscored the fact that collaborations will be one of the keys to further advancements in this important area.

page 9

The summer of 2009 was unique in the

Department of Biomedical Sci-

ences. Besides the usual group of first-

year dental students performing research experiments under the guidance of BMS faculty, two high school science teachers were se-lected from a pool of 10 applicants to spend 10 weeks broadening their scientific expertise at Baylor College of Dentistry. Ben Doolan, a chemistry teacher at South Gar-land High School, and Dusty Vincer, a biology teacher in the Plano In-dependent School District, worked in the laboratories of Dr. Jerry Feng and Dr. Rena D’Souza, respective-ly where they explored the devel-opmental biology of teeth, bones, and other structures forming the head and face. The internships, which included a $14,000 summer stipend for each teacher, were two of 54 dental research training posi-tions supported nationwide by the NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

D’Souza noted that these intern-ships offered a telling example of how even a modest, short-term in-vestment can have a tremendous-ly catalyzing effect within a com-munity, starting with the lives of the

teachers themselves. For example, Doolan entered a six-year Ph.D. pro-gram in cell and molecular biolo-gy at the University of Texas at Aus-tin in 2002. By the four-year mark, he had married, his wife expected their first child, and their credit card debt had reached $10,000 to cover basic living expenses. He reached a pragmatic but reluctant decision to take a job as a financial plan-ner and then two years later, to be-come a high school science teach-er in order to bring home a steady paycheck. Although teaching has worked out well for him, he still thinks about having never achieved his goal of getting a Ph.D. He says that when the opportunity at BCD arose, he started thinking that may-be he could still complete the jour-ney. D'Souza left the door open: "If Ben can take time off for a sabbati-cal, we will be glad to let him con-tinue with his Ph.D. training.”

Vincer, who has been a science teacher for five years and was a bi-ology major in college, spent her 10 weeks performing bench research and assisting on projects exploring the genetics and molecular biolo-gy of tooth bud formation. “To be quite honest, I’m not very familiar with the biology of tooth formation,” she commented. “So I can learn about the formation of the differ-ent tissues that comprise the head and face, and then I can take all of

High School Science Teachers in the Labs

Department News

that back to my students.”

Among her administrative duties, Vincer helps to develop the sci-ence curriculum for the Plano Inde-pendent School District. “Our ninth graders participate each year in a science fair,” she said. “They’re re-ally just scratching the surface with some of the projects, but this train-ing grant will allow me to make a connection with a respected local scientific organization. If a student is interested in a science fair project to show, for example, how a tooth or a face forms, I can pick up the phone, call Baylor College of Den-tistry, and find a knowledgeable professional to help nurture their curiosity.”

“So often we talk to kids in the classroom about genes and pro-teins, but our words have no tangi-ble connection to anything that’s real to them,” said Doolan. “Dr. D’Souza has talked about bringing some of her group into the class-room to show the kids, say, a frog that produces a green fluorescent-ly labeled protein or some of the other really cool stuff they work with every day. They can tell the students, ‘Here, hold this or look at that. This is the really cool part of what we do.’ Hopefully, their real-world enthusiasm can inspire the students to become the research-ers of the future.”

A course on modern methods of mineralized tissue preparation for light and scanning electron micros-copy was held at Baylor College of Dentistry on June 15-19, 2009. The Preparation and Analysis of Miner-alized Tissues was attended by 30 people, including students and in-structors. Of the 15 students in at-tendance, three were from out-side BCD (Massachusetts, Georgia, Houston). Course sessions includ-ed presentations on Sample Prep-aration for Scanning and Light Mi-croscopy, Decalcification and In

Situ Hybridization Protocols, Micro-wave Energy and Tissue Processing - Current Thinking, and Introduction to and Demonstration of μCT. Pre-sentations were given during Lunch and Learn sessions by Baylor Col-lege of Dentistry faculty; the topics included "Using Undemineralized Tissue in Translational Research" and "Application of μCT to Mineral-ized Tissue Evaluation."

The participants enjoyed the hands-on experience combined with the lectures on detailed descriptions

Mineralized Tissue Preparation Course Offered by BMS Faculty

of how the techniques learned in the lab could be applied to vari-ous kinds of experiments. Specific comments at the conclusion of the course included "Great course for all grad students", "Down-to-earth speakers! Very interesting topics. I loved the hands-on instruments plus the PowerPoint presentations...The manual was very organized and impressive." One participant reported that, after returning to her institution, she gave a presentation to a group there on several of the things she had learned in the

continued page 10

Dr. Rena D'Souza, Ben Doolan (center)and Dusty Vincer

page 10Department NewsBiomedical Sciences Awarded Funding to Hire Bioengineers

Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry (HSC-BCD) was one of only seven institu-tions in the nation to be awarded

course. The course was co-sponsored by the Texas A&M HSC Vice President for Re-search and Graduate Stud-ies, the BCD Office of Re-search and Graduate Studies and by Ted Pella, Inc.

The course will be presented again on June 7-11, 2010. As in the first presentation of the course, the broad topics cov-ered will include Undecal-cified Tissues, Tissue Analysis Techniques, Decalcified Tis-

sues, and Resin-embed-ded SEM. This course will be sponsored by the De-partment of Biomedical Sciences, the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, Baylor College of Dentistry, Ted Pella, Inc., and the American Associ-ation of Anatomists. Infor-mation about the course can be found at http://bcd.tamhsc.edu/educa-tion/bms/events/mineral-ized-tissue-course.html.

continued from page 9

Drs. Larry Bellinger, Rena D'Souza and Paul Dechow

grant funding for hiring two new faculty members in bio-engineering sciences and translational research. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided the funds award-ed by the NIH/National Insti-tute for Dental and Cranio-facial Research through the "P-30" grant mechanism. This $1.4 million, two-year proj-ect called “B-BEST” (Baylor’s Program in Bioengineering Sciences and Translational Research) could help trans-form laboratory findings into dental practices.

Dr. Rena D'Souza, professor and chair of biomedical sciences, is the project's principal investigator, and Drs. Paul Dechow and Larry Bell-inger serve as co-investigators. A team composed of leaders within the field of tissue engineering (Drs. Pranesh Aswath, UT Arlington; Paul Krebsbach, University of Michigan; Antonios Mikos, Rice University; Da-vid Mooney, Harvard University) will advise the project’s recruitment and development.

The long-term objective of B-BEST

is to enhance HSC-BCD’s capacity for translational research in order to develop innovative oral health care treatments. It will increase oppor-

tunities for collaboration with bio-medical engineering researchers at UT Arlington and Southern Meth-odist University, and with clinical and translational science research-ers at the University of Texas South-western Medical Center. The grant will also develop training opportu-nities for predoctoral students and dentist-scientist graduates who are interested in bioengineering, trans-lational, and patient-oriented re-search and academic careers.

A faculty search is underway for bioengineers with extensive train-ing in the regeneration of the min-eralized and soft tissues of the cran-

iofacial complex. They will be hired as P30 faculty in tenure-track posi-tions and cross-appointed within HSC-BCD in either the Periodontics

or Oral Surgery depart-ments. They also will be faculty in the Biomedical Engineering graduate program at the University of Texas at Arlington. HSC-BCD’s network of basic, translational, and clinical researchers will collabo-rate with these new fac-ulty to study new technol-ogies for improved cran-iofacial and oral health care, including the de-velopment of biomimetic and nanostructured scaf-folds, use of stem cells,

and the delivery of bioactive fac-tors and drugs for healing cran-iofacial diseases and traumatic injuries.

The project’s leaders say this grant, along with six other ARRA-funded projects, marks a turning point for biomedical research at HSC-BCD. Within the dental research com-munity, the successful funding of B-BEST puts the college at the fore-front of translational research. For patients, the discoveries funded by it will lead to innovations in den-tal and craniofacial treatments for years to come.

page 11Invited Presentations / PublicationsInvited presentations

D'Souza R. International Meeting on Dental Materials and Regenerative Dentistry: Challenges and Limits. Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale sui Biomateriali, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Frederico, Italy.

D’Souza R. Short Course on Tissue Engineering, Rice Univer-sity, Houston.

D’Souza R. Keynote Speaker at Research Day, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.

Feng J. Animal models used for bone and tooth develop-mental studies, Seminar series in Department of Biology, Uni-versity of Texas at Dallas.

Feng J. A molecule switch for bone and tooth fate deter-mination, Reconstructive Surgery Summit sponsored by In-tramed Health and the World Craniofacial Foundation, Dal-las, TX.

Feng J. Roles of DMP1 in phosphate homeostasis and miner-alization. University of Illinois School of Dentistry, Chicago.

Feng J. BMP receptor 1A determines cell fate of tooth for-mation. Department of Biology, University of Wichita, Wich-ita, KS.

Feng J. Application of in vivo siRNA knockdown mice in tooth studies. Second Meeting of IADR Pan Asian Pacific Federation (PAPF) and IADR Asia/Pacific Region (APR), Wu-han, China.

Feng J. How to be a “good salesman” in Sciences. Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.

Feng J. Cell fate determination of bone and teeth. Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Feng J. Critical roles of osteocytes in bone metabolism, Ro-lanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Tex-as Seminar Series, Houston, TX.

Feng J. Osteocyte: no longer hibernated in bony caves, Global Center of Excellence, 3rd International Symposium on Frontiers in Bone Biology in Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Feng J. Novel endocrine roles of DMP1 in phosphate ho-meostasis, Annual meeting of the International and Ameri-can Associations for Dental Research, Miami, FL.

Feng J. Osteocytes and phosphate, 2nd Joint Meeting of the International Bone & Mineral Society and the Australian & New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society, Sydney, Australia.

Groppe J. BMP and TGF-β signal transduction: Unanticipat-ed mechanisms revealed by structures of ligand-receptor complexes and implications for activin and myostatin as-sembly, 1st International BMP Workshop: Modern Trends in BMP Signaling, Berlin, Germany.

Qin C. Dentin matrix proteins. University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, Chicago, IL.

Qin C. Graduate programs in USA dental schools. Harbin Medical University School of Dentistry, Harbin, China.

Qin C. Posttranslational modifications of dentin matrix pro-teins. 2nd Meeting of the IADR Pan Asian Pacific Federa-tion (PAPF) and the IADR Asia/Pacific Region (APR), Wuhan, China.

Schneiderman ED. New tools for answering old questions

on how best to repair cleft lip and palate: Conebeam CT and randomized clinical trials. Reconstructive Surgery Sum-mit, Dallas, TX.

Spears R. Oral histology for the medical practitioner. Texas A&M College of Medicine, College Station, TX.

Svoboda K. Cell-matrix interactions in the corneal epitheli-um. ARVO/ISOCB (International Society for Ocular Cell Biol-ogy), Ericeira, Portugal.

Publications

Brisceno CE, Rossouw PE, Carrillo R, Spears R, Buschang PH. Healing of the roots and surrounding structures after inten-tional damage with miniscrew implants. Amer J Orthodont Dentofac Orthoped 135(3):292-301, 2009.

Chang Y-C, Sabourin C, Svoboda K, Lou S-E, Gordon M, Casil-las R, Gerecke D. Upregulation of gamma-2 laminin-332 in the mouse ear vesicant wound model. Journal of Biochemi-cal and Molecular Toxicology 23(3):172-184, 2009.

Elsalanty ME, Zakhary I, Akeel S, Benson B, Mulone T, Triplett GR, Opperman LA. Reconstruction of canine mandibular bone defects using a bone transport reconstruction plate. Ann Plast Surg 63:441-448, 2009.

Feng JQ, Ye L, Schiavi S. Do osteocytes contribute to phos-phate homeostatis? Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 18:285-91, 2009.

Hembree M, Buschang PH, Carrillo R, Spears R, Rossouw PE. Effects of intentional damage of the roots and surrounding structures with miniscrew implants. AmerJ Orthodont Dento-fac Orthoped 135(3):280.e1-9, 2009.

Hinton RJ, Serrano M, So S. Differential gene expression in the perichondrium and cartilage of the neonatal mouse temporomandibular joint. Orthod Craniofac Res 12:168-177, 2009.

Hutchins B. Autonomic innervation to the head: Animations and a self-testing guide. MedEdPORTAL; 2009.

Kaplan FS, Groppe J, Shore EM. When one skeleton is not enough: Approaches and strategies for the treatment of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP). Drug Discov To-day Ther Strateg 5:255-262, 2009.

Kaplan FS, Xu M, Seemann P,Connor M,Glaser DL, Carroll L, Delai P, Fastnacht-Urban E, Forman SJ, Gillessen-Kaesbach G,Hoover-Fong J, Köster B, Pauli RM, Reardon W, Zaidi S-A, Zasloff M, Morhart R, Mundlos S, Groppe J, Shore EM. Clas-sic and atypical fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) phenotypes are caused by mutations in the bone morpho-genetic protein (BMP) type I receptor ACVR1. Hum Mutat 30: 379-390, 2009.

Komabayashi T, D'Souza RN, Dechow PC, Safavi KE, Spang-berg LS. Particle size and shape of calcium hydroxide. J En-dod 35:284-287, 2009.

Koster B, Pauli RM, Reardon W, Zaidi S-A, Zasloff M, Morhart R, Mundlos S, Groppe J, Shore EM. Classic and atypical fi-brodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) phenotypes are caused by mutations in the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor ADVR1. Hum Mutat 30:379-390, 2009.

Kramer PR. Bellinger LL. The effects of cycling levels of 17 beta-estradiol and progesterone on the magnitude of tem-poromandibular joint-induced nociception. Endocrinology 150(8):3680-9, 2009.

continued page 12

page 12Publications Kramer PR, Janik Keith A, Cai Z, Ma S, Watanabe I. Integrin-mediated attachment of periodontal ligament to titanium surfaces. Dent Mater 25:877-883, 2009.

Kramer PR, Winger V, Reuben J. P13K limits TNF-alpha pro-duction in CD16-activated monocytes. Eur J Immonol 39:561-570, 2009.

Kramer PR, Kramer SF, Puri J, Grogan D, Guan G. Multipotent adult progenitor cells acquire periodontal ligament charac-teristics in vivo. Stem Cells Dev 18:67-76, 2009.

Liu SS, Opperman LA, Buschang PH. Effects of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 on midsagittal sutur-al bone formation during expansion. Am J Orthod Dentofa-cial Orthop 136:768-769, 2009.

Lu X, Rios HF, Jiang B, Xing L, Kadlcek R, Greenfield EM, Luo G, Feng JQ. A new osteopetrosis mutant mouse strain (ntl) with odontoma-like proliferations and lack of tooth roots. Eur J Oral Sci 117:625-635, 2009.

Lu Y, Qin C, Xie Y, Bonewald LF, Feng JQ. Studies of the DMP1 57-kDa functional domain both in vivo and in vitro. Cells Tis-sues Organs 189:175-185, 2009.

Maciejewska I, Qin D, Huang B, Sun Y, Mues G, Svoboda K, Bonewald L, Butler WT, Feng JQ, Qin C. Distinct compart-mentalization of dentin matrix protein 1 fragments in min-eralized tissues and cells. Cells Tissues Organs 189:186-191, 2009.

Maciejewska I, Cowan C, Svoboda K, Butler W, D'Souza R, Qin C. The NH2-terminal and COOH-terminal fragments of dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1) localize differently in the compartments of dentin and growth plate of bone. J His-tochem Cytochem. 57:155-166, 2009.

Mountziaris PM, Kramer PR, Mikos AG. Emerging intra-artic-ular drug delivery systems for the temporomandibular joint. Methods 47:134-140, 2009.

Mues G, Kapadia H, Wang Y, D'Souza RN. Genetics and hu-man malformations. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery 20:1652-1654, 2009.

Mues G, Griggs R, Hartung AJ, Whelan G, Best LG, Srivastava AK, D'Souza R. From ectodermal dysplasia to selective tooth agenesis. Am J Med Genet A 149A:2037-41, 2009.

Mues G, Tardivel A, Willen L, Kapadia H, Seaman R, Frazier-Bowers S, Schneider P, D'Souza RN. Functional analysis of Ectodysplasin-A mutations causing selective tooth agene-sis. Eur J Hum Genet. 2010 Jan;18(1):19-25, 2009.

Nickel J, Sebald W, Groppe JC, Mueller TD. Intricacies of BMP receptor assembly. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 20:367-77, 2009.

Papagerakis P, Hu Y, Ye L, Feng JQ, Simmer JP, Hu JC. Identi-fying promoter elements necessary for enamelin tissue-spe-cific expression. Cells Tissues Organs 189(1-4):98-104; 2009.

Peng T, Huang B, Sun Y, Lu Y, Bonewald L, Chen S, Butler WT, Feng JQ, D'Souza RN, Qin C. Blocking of proteolytic process-ing and deletion of glycosaminoglycan side chain of mouse DMP1 by substituting critical amino acid residues. Cells Tis-sues Organs 189: 192-197, 2009.

Puri J, Hutchins B, Bellinger LL, Kramer PR. Estrogen and in-flammation modulate estrogen receptor alpha expression in specific tissues of the temporomandibular joint. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 7:155, 2009.

Ruest LB, Clouthier DE. Elucidating timing and function of endothelin-A receptor signaling during craniofacial devel-opment using neural crest cell-specific gene deletion and receptor antagonism. Dev Biol 328:94-108, 2009.

Schneiderman ED, Xu H, Salyer KE. Characterization of the maxillary complex in unilateral cleft lip and palate using cone-beam computed tomography: A preliminary study. J Craniofac Surg 20 Suppl 2: 1699-710, 2009.

Seemann P, Brehm A, Konig J, Reissner C, Stricker S, Kuss P, Haupt J, Reninger S, Nickel J, Sebald W, Groppe JC, Ploger F, Pohl J, Schmidt-von Kegler M, Walther M, Gassner I, Rusu C, Janecke AR, Dathe K, Mundlos S. Mutations in GDF5 reveal a key residue mediating BMP inhibition by NOGGIN. PloS Gen-et 5:e1000747, 2009.

Spencer CG, Campbell PM, Buschang PH, Cai J, Honeyman AL. Antimicrobial effects of zinc oxide in an orthodontic bonding agent. Angle Orthod 79:317-22, 2009.

Strait DS, Weber GW, Neubauer S, Calk J, Richmond BG, Lu-cas PW, Spencer MA, Schrein D, Dechow PC, Ross CF, Grosse IR, Wright BW, Constantino P, Wood BA, Lawn B, Hylander WL, Wang Q, Byron C, Slice DE, Smith AL. The feeding bio-mechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus afri-canus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:2124-9, 2009.

Svoboda K. Gary Schoenwolf wins top AAA accolade for scientific achievement. American Association of Anato-mists NEWS, 18:2, p 3, June, 2009.

Svoboda K. Fischman honored for service to AAA and anat-omy discipline. American Association of Anatomists NEWS, 18:2, p 6-7, June, 2009.

Wang Y, Groppe JC, Wu J, Ogawa T, Mues G, D'Souza RD, Ka-padia H. Pathogenic mechanisms of tooth agenesis linked to paired domain mutations in human PAX9. Hum Mol Gen-et 18:2863-74, 2009.

Wang Y, Wu H, Wu J, Zhao H, Zhang X, Mues G, D'Souza RN, Feng H, Kapadia H. Identification and functional analysis of two novel PAX9 mutations. Cells Tissues Organs 189:80-87, 2009.

Woods PW, Buschang PH, Owens SE, Rossouw PE, Opperman LA. The effect of force, timing, and location on bone-to-implant contact of miniscrew implants. Eur J Orthod 31:232-240, 2009.

Xincheng Lu, Rios HF, Jiang B, Xing L, Kadlcek R, Greenfield EM, Luo G, Feng JQ. A new osteopetrosis mutant mouse strain (ntl) with odontoma-like proliferations and lack of tooth roots. Eur J Oral Sci 117: 625-635 2009.

Yu W, Serrano M, San Miguel S, Ruest LB and Svoboda KKH. Cleft lip and palate genetics and application in early em-bryological development. Indian Journal for Plastic Surgery NIHMSID156044 42:S35-S50, 2009.

Yu W, Ruest LB, Svoboda KK. Regulation of epithelial-mes-enchymal transition in palatal fusion. Exp Biol Med 234:483-491, 2009.

continued page 13

continued from page 11

page 13Leadership alized Tissue Group.

Groppe J. Ad hoc reviewer for Journal of Molecular Evolution.

Groppe J. Ad hoc reviewer for Wellcome Trust (London) and Medical Research Council (MRC, Britain); two proposals, BMP Signaling Structure/Function.

Hinton R. Chair, Basmajian Award Selection Committee, American Association of Anatomists.

Hinton R. Member, ADA Test Construction Committee (Ana-tomical Sciences section).

Honeyman A. Editorial Board member, Clinical and Vac-cine Immunology, Journal of Bacteriology.

Honeyman, A. Ad-Hoc Reviewer, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Applied and Environmental Microbi-ology, BMC Microbiology, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Ad-Hoc Reviewer.

Hutchins B. Basic Science Consultant, Commission on Den-tal Accreditation.

Hutchins B. Member, Part 1 Testlet Committee, American Dental Association.

Hutchins B. Member, National Board Exam Part I Question Cloning Committee, American Dental Association.

Kramer P. Editorial Board member, Open Tissue Engineer-ing & Regenerative Medicine, The Open Rheumatology Journal.

Kramer P. Reviewer, NIDCR study section ZDE1 VH.

Kramer P. Reviewer, NIDCR study section ZRG1 MOSS-K B.

Opperman L. Councilor, AADR, Dallas Section.

Operman L. Past President, Board of Directors, Craniofacial Biology Group, IADR.

Opperman L. Program Committee, American Association of Anatomists.

Opperman L. Member, Executive Board, American Associa-tion of Anatomists.

Opperman L. Member, Editorial Board, Developmental Dy-namics, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Experimen-tal Biology and Medicine.

Opperman L. Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Journal of Endodontics.

Opperman L. Ad hoc reviewer, Acta Odontologia Scandi-navica, Expert Review of Medical Devices, Journal of Anat-omy, Journal of Endodontics.

Opperman L. NIH Special Emphasis Panel.

Opperman L. NIH Challenge Grant First Round Review.

Opperman L. NIH GO Grant Mail (online) Study Section.

Opperman L. Abstract Review for American Association of Anatomists Annual Experimental Biology meeting, 2010.

Opperman L. Lunch and Learn Organizer “Technology trans-fer and student and faculty inventors” at the 87th General Session of the joint IADR/AADR, April 1-4, 2009, Miami, FL.

Leadership

D'Souza, R. Vice-president, American Association for Den-tal Research.

D'Souza R. Chair-elect, Oral Biology Section, American Den-tal Educators Association.

D'Souza R. Director, Friends of NIDCR Board.

D'Souza R. Member, NIDCR National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council (term of appointment: 2008 to 2012).

D'Souza R. Board-approved member Scientific Program Committee, American Association for the Advancement of Science (term of appointment: 2009-2012).

D'Souza R. Member, International Association for Dental Re-search Regional Development Committee (term of appoint-ment: 2009-2012).

D'Souza R. Nominated as Scientific Liaison to Peer Review Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, National Institutes of Health.

D'Souza R. Member, Program Advisory Committee, Texas In-stitute of Genomic Medicine (Director: Dr. Richard Finnell).

D'Souza, R. Member-at-Large, AADR Publications Committee.

D'Souza R. Editorial Board, Journal of Dental Research/Criti-cal Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine.

D'Souza, R. Reviewer, The Academy of Medicine, Engineer-ing and Science of Texas (TAMEST) Technology Initiatives.

D'Souza, R. NIDCR/NIH Special Emphasis Panels for NIDCR Applications for Clinical and Pediatric Research Loan Repay-ment Programs; Conference grants (R13); Small Grants (R03) and Career Development Award (K22/23) applications.

D'Souza R. Member, Science Information Committee, AADR, 2007-2010.

D'Souza R. Member, Program Advisory Board, Comprehen-sive Research Training Program (T32), University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor (PI and Program Director: Dr. Paul Krebsbach); 2006-2011.

D'Souza R. Member, Program Advisory Board, Compre-hensive Research Training Program (T32), University of Pitts-burgh, School of Dental Medicine (PI and Program Director: Dr. Mark Mooney); 2006- .

Feng J. Organizer, “Symposium on Frontiers in Hard Tissue Research” at the 2nd Meeting of IADR Pan Asian Pacific Federation (PAPF) and IADR Asia/Pacific Region (APR), held in Wuhan, China (Sept. 22-24, 2009).

Feng J. Organizer for abstract review of Mineralized Tissue group, American Association for Dental Research annual meeting.

Feng J. Reviewer, the NIH/NIDCR Center for Scientific Re-view Special Emphasis Panel Dental and Enamel: Develop-mental Biology.

Feng J. Reviewer, NIH/DSR Meeting/NIDCR Special Review Committee.

Feng J. President-elect, International Association for Dental Research/American Association for Dental Research Miner-

continued from page 12

continued page 14

page 14Leadership / Grantscontinued from page 13

continued page 15

Opperman L. Symposium Organizer and Chairman of Sym-posium, “Understanding the Principles of Osteogenesis in Bone Repair” at the 17th Conference of the International Federation of Association of Anatomists August 16-19, 2009, Cape Town South Africa.

Qin C. Editorial Board Member, Journal of Dental Research.

Qin C. Reviewer, Journal of Dental Research, European Journal of Oral Science, Pathology &

Oncology Research, Matrix Biology, Archives of Oral Biology.

Qin C. Reviewer, NIH/NIDCR Extramural Loan Repayment Applications (2009/08 Council ZDE1 MK 23).

Qin C. Reviewer, NIDCR Special Grant Review Commit-tee: Review of F, K, and R03 Applications (2009/10 Council DSR1).

Qin C. Secretary and Treasurer, International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Mineralized Tissue Group.

Schneiderman ED. Research Consultant to planned Texas Hospital for Advanced Medicine/Texas Reconstructive Sur-gery Institute.

Schneiderman ED. Chair of Curriculum, Instruction & Assess-ment subcommittee, Dallas Arts Magnet High School (Book-er T. Washington HSPVA) Site-Based management Team.

Schneiderman ED. Eastfield Community College Technol-ogy Advisory Board, Mesquite, TX.

Schneiderman ED. Reviewer, North and Central Texas Clin-ical and Translational Science Initiative pilot grant award (CTSA Program).

Spears R. AADR National Student Research Group Faculty Advisor.

Spears R. ADA CODA Site Reviewer.

Spears R. ADA Student Clinician Program Advisor.

Spears R. ADEA Council of Faculties, Annual Session Men-torship Program.

Spears R. Member, ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation.

Spears R. Member, Hinman National Student Research Symposium Advisory Board.

Spears R. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Ac-creditation Site Reviewer 2006-present.

Spears R. Member, Texas State Anatomical Board.

Spears R. Reviewer, Anatomical Sciences Education.

Svoboda K. Executive Committee member, American Asso-ciation of Anatomists.

Svoboda K. Finance Committee member, American Asso-ciation of Anatomists.

Svoboda K. Past President, American Association of Anatomists.

Svoboda K. Experimental Biology Board of Directors, Ameri-can Association of Anatomists representative, 2007-2010.

Svoboda K. Member, AAA Henry Gray Award Committee,

2007-2009.

Svoboda K. Member, AAA Ladman Service Award Commit-tee, 2007-2009.

Svoboda K. Member, AAA Honorary Membership Commit-tee, 2007-2009.

Svoboda K. Member, AAA Fellows Committee, 2009-2012.

Svoboda K. Member, EMT International Association Board, 2008-2011.

Svoboda K. Organizer, The EMT International Conference, Tucson, AZ.

Svoboda K. Editorial Board member, Developmental Dynam-ics, Anatomical Record, The European Journal of Dentistry.

Svoboda K. Member of NIH Anterior Eye Disease (AED) Spe-cial Study Section.

Svoboda K. Member, NIH S10 Study Section.

Grants

Grants awarded to BMS faculty through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding (dollar amounts are FY total costs)

• Baylor's program for bioengineering sciences and trans-lational research "B-BEST" (R. D'Souza, PI); $687,973; Re-covery Act Limited Competition Supporting New Faculty Recruitment

• Regulation of RunX2 function by Twist-1 in tooth develop-ment (R. D'Souza, PI); $51,783

• Signaling mechanisms in early tooth development (R. D'Souza, PI); Administrative Collaborative Supplement; $185,638; Administrative Supplement for Summer Research Experiences for Dental Students, $14,650

• Sex steroids and TMJ pain (L. Bellinger, PI); $13,185

• DMP1 mutations: Defects in odontogenesis (J. Feng, PI); $14,650

• Studies of proteins involved in dentinogenesis (C. Qin, PI); $14,650

• Improved manufacture of bone transport plates (L. Opper-man, PI); $8497

• Studies of the roles of DMP1 and DSPP in osteogenesis and dentinogenesis (C. Qin, PI); $177,631

• Studies of the roles of DMP1 and DSPP in osteogenesis and dentinogenesis (C.Qin, PI); $72,303 (for purchase of equipment)

• Novel treatment for the relief of orofacial pain (R. Spears); $11,600

(For the following, dollar amounts are total costs unless oth-erwise noted)

Bellinger L, Kramer P (Co-I), Grogan D (Collaborator), Hutchins R (Collaborator), Spears R (Collaborator). Sex ste-roids, and TMJ pain, NIH/NIDCR R01 DE016059-0, 2005-2010, $1,500,000.

Dechow P. Integrative analysis of hominid feeding biome-chanics; NSF, 2007-2012, $218,752.

Dechow P. Scanco VivaCT 40 high speed micro comput-ed tomography system, NIH S10RR023634-01A1, 2008-2010, $345,000.

page 15Grantscontinued from page 14

Dechow P., Nguyen H (fellow). Individual predoctoral den-tal scientist fellowship, NIH/NIDCR F30 DE16179-01, 2004-2009, $161,490.

Dechow P., (Mentor/BCD Representative), Bellinger L, D’Souza RN, Hinton R, Opperman LA, Svoboda K (Mentors). UT Southwestern clinical science scholars program, K12 HD052225-01, 2005-2010, $9,700,000.

D'Souza R (PI), Mues G (Co-I), Kapadia H (Co-I). Signaling mechanisms in early tooth development. NIH/NIDCR 5 R01 DE19471, 2008-2012, $1,465,000.

D’Souza R. Regulation of Runx2 function by Twist-1 in tooth development, NIH/NIDCR 2 R01 DE-013368, 2006-2010, $1,068,532.

D'Souza R, Dechow P and Adams P (Co-directors). B-STARS: Baylor's comprehensive research training (T32) pro-gram for dentist-scientists, 1 T32 DE018380-01A1, 2008-2012, $1,600,000.

D'Souza R (PI), Hartgerink J (Co-I) and Schmalz G (Co-I). Nanostructured peptide hydrogels and stem cells for den-tin-pulp complex regeneration. IADR/Glaxo-Smith-Kline In-novation in Oral Care Award; 2009; $75,000.

Feng J. Role of DMP1 in mineralization, NIH/NIAMS R01 AR051587, 2004-2009, $198,000 (annual direct).

Feng J. DMP1 mutations: Defects in odontogenesis, NIH NID-CR R01 DE015209, 2008-2013, $232,500 (annual direct).

Feng J. Effects of mechanical strain on osteocyte function, NIH/NIAMS P01 AR046798-06, 2006-2011, $110,000 (annual direct).

Feng J. Disturbance of phosphate homeostasis changes in osteocyte morphology and function, Genzyme Renal Inno-vations Program, 2008-2011, $50,000 (annual total).

Feng J. Studies of the roles of DMP1 and DSPP in osteogen-esis and dentinogenesis. NIH/NIDCR R01 DE005092, 2009-2013; $873,000.

Feng J. A preclinical study proposal: Effects of Sci-Ab on ro-dent periodontal disease model - DMP1 null mice. Amgen Inc.; 2002-2010; $148,500

Feng J. Evaluation of the mandible bone phenotype of gene-altered animals and/or the effects of novel bone active compounds in animals. Amgen Inc.; 2009-2010; $53,358.

Groppe J. Structural basis of ACVR1 dysregulation in fi-brodysplasia ossificans progressiva. The Center for Research

in FOP and Related Disorders, UPenn School of Medicine, 2006-2010; $100,000.

Groppe J. Mechanisms of BMP receptor kinase dysregula-tion in skeletal dysplasias. NIH/NIAMS 1 R03 AR056838-01, 2008-2011, $219,750.

Hinton RJ (Co-PI), Berry C (Co-PI), Dechow P (Collaborator); D'Souza R (Collaborator), Bellinger L (Collaborator). CUSPID: Baylor's Oral Health Research Education Grant, NIH/NIDCR 1 R25 DE018883, 2008-2012, $600,000.

Hutchins B. Basic sciences taught in North America: A sur-vey of current practices. ADEA, 2009-2010, $5,350.

Kramer P. Intra-articular TMJ injection study of microbeads. Appian Labs, 2008-2010, $50,000.

Mues G. EDA pathway mutations in non-syndromic tooth agenesis. R03 DE0196554-01A2; 2010-2012.

Opperman L, Spears R (Co-I), Kerns D (Collaborator). Os-seoinductive surface treatment for dental implants. NIH/NIDCR SBIR R44 DE15893-01, 2007-2009, $242,862.

Opperman L. Curvilinear mandibular bone reconstruction plate. NIH/NIDCR R42 DE015437-02, 2005-2010, $42,968: final no-cost extension; $433,577.

Opperman L. Improved bone transport reconstruction plate, subcontract. NIH/NIDCR R43 DE 017259-01; 2007-2010; $70,862.

Opperman L. Improved bone transport reconstruction plate, subcontract. NIH/NIDCR R43 DE 017259-01; 2009-2010; $8,497.

Opperman L. Effect of BMP2 on healing of post tumor-re-section mandibular defects, subcontract. Medtronic Inc. 2008-2009; $5,200.

Qin C. Studies of proteins involved in dentinogenesis. NIH/NIDCR R01 DE005092:27-31, 2004-2009, $981,170.

Qin C. DMP1 mutations: Defects in odontogenesis. NIH/NID-CR R01 DE015209, 2008-2013, $225,000 (annual direct).

Svoboda K. Regulation of EMT during palate development. March of Dimes, 2006-2010. $250,800.

Svoboda K. Testing antioxidant compounds on gingival fi-broblast cells. PerioSciences, 2008-2010; $60,000

Svoboda K, Opperman L. Antioxidant effects on gingival fi-broblast proliferation, migration and apoptosis in vitro. Rus-sell Moon project, 2008-2009, $23,000.

Chair’s OfficeRena N. D'Souza, DDS, PhDProfessor and ChairPH: 214-828-8260rdsouza@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Paul Dechow, PhDProfessor and Vice-Chair PH: 214-370-7229pdechow@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Departmental OfficeNancy AnthonyAdministrative AssistantPH: 214-828-8260nanthony@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Graduate ProgramsKathy Svoboda, PhDProfessor & Graduate Program DirectorPH: 214-828-8487ksvoboda@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Undergraduate EducationRobert Hinton, PhDProfessorDirector of Predoctoral Teaching and Faculty MentoringPH: 214-828-8272bhinton@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Bob Hutchins, PhDAssociate Professor Director of Instructional TechnologyPH: 214-828-8275bhutchins@bcd.tamhsc.edu

Contacting The Department Website: http://bcd.tamhsc.edu/education/bms/index.html

BCD Biomedical Sciences News • Volume 4 Issue 1 • April 2010

page 16NEWS NOTES

Dr. Rena N. D’Souza was awarded the 2010 Presidential Award for Ex-cellence at the TAM Health Science Center Convocation on January 20, 2010. The award honors significant contributions that enhance, facili-tate or accelerate the HSC research enterprise.

The use of An Interactive Color Atlas of the Human Skull. V 1.0 & 1.2 by Dr. Bob Hutchins has been adopted by:

• Baylor College of Dentistry • Mercer Medical School (GA)• AT Stills School of Dentistry• Indiana School of Dentistry• Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK• University of the Pacific Dental School• American Dental Association

Dr. Kathy Svoboda was elected as a Fellow of the American Associ-ation of Anatomists. She was also presented with a plaque in recog-nition for 12 years of service on the board and for serving in multiple of-fices (program chair, vice president, president elect, president, and past president). In addition, she was named to the Fellows committee and the Experimental Biology Pro-gram Committee.

BMS celebration in honor of awards garnered by Drs. Rena D'Souza and Kathy Svoboda. Pictured are Ashneet Sachar, Symone San Miguel, Claudia Fernandez, Anika Voisey and Dr. Svoboda

Dr. Jerry Feng and other members of BMS flexing on the beach in Florida after the 2009 AADR meeting.

Dr. Chunlin Qin, Jyoti Puri, and Dr. Lynne Opperman at Jyoti's poster, 2010 AADR meeting

Jan La and Marge Palma at BMS awards celebration

Dr. Ying Wang, was selected as one of 27 finalists to compete for the American Associa-tion for Dental Research Hatton Award at the group’s annual meeting in Miami April 1-4, 2009. Her poster presentation was entitled "Pathogen-ic mechanisms of tooth agenesis linked to PAX9 DNA-binding domain."

Dr. Avadhesh Sharma, Associate Professor, left Biomedical Scienc-es in December, 2009, to assume the position of Chair of the Depart-ment of Pharmaceu-tical Sciences at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medi-cine School of Phar-macy, Suwanee, GA.