WesternU's College of Dental Medicine to receive $8.4 million from First 5 LA
The College of Dental Medicine will receive $8.4 million from First 5 LA to provide dental care to uninsured and underserved children. The First 5 LA Commission approved the initial 19-month contract for $3.1 million with WesternU, part of a five-year, $38 million project in cooperation with UCLA and USC. The total awarded to WesternU through the full five-year implementation of the program is anticipated to be $8.4 million. The program will emphasize getting children into the oral health care delivery system, or dental homes, by age 1, said Timothy Martinez, DMD, College of Dental Medicine Associate Dean for Community Partnerships and Access to Care. College of Dental Medicine faculty and students will assess patients and provide dental care and preventative and educational services. The College will work with the San Gabriel Valley Foundation for Dental Health, WesternU's Patient Care Center, and the Center for Oral Health, which is now housed on WesternU's Pomona campus. It also plans to work collaboratively to establish four school-based dental oral health centers.
College of Dental Medicine named Leader in Oral Health
The College of Dental Medicine recently received the 2013 Leaders in Oral Health award from the Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County. The College was one of three recipients of the award, and was singled out "for encouragement of dental vocations in a public health setting." Dean Steven Friedrichsen and Associate Dean for Community Partnerships and Access to Care Timothy Martinez, DMD, accepted the award on behalf of the College of Dental Medicine. Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County was established in 2001 by the Children and Families Commission and regional community members who sought to address the county's oral health crisis. In June 2003, Healthy Smiles received its official independent non-profit status, and in 2005 found a permanent home at the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children's) Garden Grove Health and Dental Center.
Interprofessional WesternU team to develop legislative issue briefs
Western University of Health Sciences' College of Dental Medicine and Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals are bringing together an interprofessional team to research and develop Legislative Issue Briefs designed to inform policy and legislation in support of improved oral and systemic health. Colgate is providing $100,000 in funding to the College of Dental Medicine in a partnership that focuses on creating a reservoir of expertise by supporting the efforts of promising new faculty who have an interest in becoming a significant and long-term resource for Colgate in an academic area of mutual interest. Three junior faculty members and two more experienced faculty initially joined the Colgate project team: Joel Laudenbach, DMD; Tobias Boehm, DDS, PhD; Jerry Minsky, DDS; Nithya Venugopal, DMD and Shirley Kang, DDS. The program has expanded to include faculty and professional staff from across WesternU.
WesternU provides free dental care to children during Give Kids A Smile
Smiles were boundless when Western University of Health Sciences' College of Dental Medicine (CDM) students, faculty, and staff administered free dental care to more than 80 children during the third annual Give Kids A Smile one-day volunteer initiative at The Dental Center on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. Third-year CDM student Nissa Ophaso thought getting clinical experience with children was a great experience, especially when she saw her youngest patient of the day, two-year-old Miranda Huff-Maldonado of Ontario. The two exchanged big smiles, high-fives and knuckle-bumps throughout the exam. CDM faculty and students provided children with free dental exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, and sealants. The Dental Center at WesternU and the Tri-County Dental Society teamed up to provide services to children in the community.
Dental Safety Net
An EdSource.org story about schools providing a "dental safety net" for students includes mention of CDM's work with the El Monte School District.
Faculty News
Dr. Jerry Minsky, College of Dental Medicine Assistant Professor, presented two topics at Contemporary Forums' 2013 Dental Practice Update. The first was a presentation of Bioarchaeology, Using Isotope Analysis of Teeth in Forensic Identifications. The second was a review of dental identification teams' efforts in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 and the World Trade Center. Contemporary Forums provides CE conferences for health care professionals.
Dr. Vicki Wedel of COMP/CDM was an invited speaker at the annual Redlands University 8th Grade Girls Math and Science Conference sponsored by the 
American Association of University Women. Her talk, "I See Dead People: What I Can Tell About the Dead from Their Bones and Teeth," was part of an agenda to encourage more young women to pursue careers in science, technology and math. Among the comments Dr. Wedel received after her talk was that she was able to make a "dead" subject come alive. She was also an invited speaker in the Department on Anthropology at San Diego State University, where she spoke to a crowd of 300 on the topic of "bones, ballistics, and blunt force trauma" and counseled graduate students interested in pursuing careers in forensic medicine and of odontology. Dr. Wedel also recently attended the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences with Shirley Hsieh, MSMS '11, DMD '15. Dr. Wedel and her Creighton University collaborator Dr. Ken Hermsen assembled and moderated a symposium on "How Hard Tissue Histology Helps Solve Cases," which was very well received. Dr. Wedel presented a paper titled "Determining Season at Death Using Dental Cementum: A Validation Study," in which she summarized the results of a project three years in the making, and her paper was named runner up for the Kerley Award, the only award the Physical Anthropology Section of the Academy awards for the section's best paper. Hsieh presented a paper titled "Does Cut Direction Affect Cementum Increment Viewing?" She also became CDM's first trainee affiliate of the Academy, specifically the Odontology Section. Dr. Wedel also nominated OMS2 2nd Lt. Rina Eden for student membership in the Pathology/Biology section of the Academy. Her application was approved, making Rina COMP's first trainee affiliate of the Academy.
On Jan. 1, Dr. Jeff Lloyd, College of Dental Medicine assistant professor, took his place as 2013 president of Tri-County Dental Society. Established in 1908, 
TCDS is a local component of the California Dental Association and the American Dental Association, and is now comprised of more than 1,800 member dentists from the Riverside, San Bernardino and Eastern portion of Los Angeles counties. Headed by Dr. Lloyd, TCDS's Board of Directors and Committees are working to offer Continuing Education, membership events and volunteer opportunities to the local dentists. This year's stellar line-up includes evening CE courses on "Hidden Pathology & Cone Beam CT & Dentist's Responsibility," "Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office: A Simple Approach," "OSHA," "Defensive Practice Management: Managing Patients & Parents," and Study Club meetings for dentists under 10 years of being licensed. TCDS also helps coordinate dental clinics for underserved children through the Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) program, held each year in February. Last year 19 dental clinics were organized with 450 volunteers who helped 785 children; plans to grow this program are already underway this year. In addition, the Dental Society hosts an online career center which allows dentists and staff to connect on the job front.
Student News
Khomthorn Cunvong, MSMS '12, DO '16, Joshua Cameron, Assistant Professor in the College of Optometry, Daniel Huffmire, MSMS '12, DMD '16, and Douglas Ethell, Associate Professor in the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences recently published Amyloid-β Increases Capillary Bed Density in the Adult Zebrafish Retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2013 Feb 27;54(2):1516-21. doi: 10.1167/iovs.12-10821.
Read the latest updates from the students themselves in the latest Student Government Association Newsletter.
Upcoming Events
April 18: WesternU's College of Pharmacy presents the Ray Symposium on campus. Dr. Patricia Crawford, RD, director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, and a Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist, will present "Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention," at 5:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 1 of the Health Education Center on WesternU's Pomona campus.
May 15-17: WesternU's 32nd Commencement at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium
June 10: WesternU's 2013 Towne & Gown Golf Tournament, benefiting student scholarships, will be held Monday, June 10, 2013, at the Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.
July 13: Save the date to join your fellow alumni for complimentary drinks and snacks at WesternU's "Day at the Beach" in Malibu on Saturday, July 13, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
See a full list of upcoming events on the Online Alumni Events page.
For more information or to RSVP for these events, please contact the Alumni Office at (909) 469-ALUM or alumni@westernu.edu.
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