Media Contact:
Beth Adams, 215-573-8224

Student Named Preventive Dentistry Scholar

April 20, 2009

Dr. Charles N. Bertolami, President of ADEA; Ms. Velasco;
and Dr. Joan Gluch , Acting Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Maria Velasco (D'10), a third-year student at Penn Dental Medicine, was among 12 students nationwide named a 2009 ADEA/Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PCC, Inc. Preventive Dentistry Scholar. The scholarship recognizes academic excellence and strong personal activities and achievements in preventive dentistry. The award was presented at the 86th ADEA Annual Session, held in Phoenix March 14 - 18.

As president of the Hispanic Student Dental Association at Penn Dental Medicine, Ms. Velasco has been leading a community outreach program called "Puentes de Salud." "Our goal is to ameliorate health and dental care inequalities in South Philadelphia by serving as a 'health bridge' that brings needed health care services to the underserved Hispanic/Latino community," she says. "We provide the community with dental screenings and are in the process of writing a grant to offer dental services."

Additionally, Ms. Velasco and a group of Hispanic dental students attend oral health fairs in Philadelphia directed toward the Hispanic population. She strongly believes that the practice of preventive dentistry coupled with the investigation of preventive methods in dentistry makes more well-rounded practitioners, and thus, one of her goals has been to promote research among students as President of the School's Vernon Brightman Research Society. She has been involved in a research project with Dr. Sunday Akintoye, Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine, comparing the differentiation capacity into neurons of adult BMSCs derived from maxilla, mandible, and iliac crest bone. The research suggests that maxillary and mandibular BMSCs could become neurons and potentially be used in the treatment of stroke, paresthesias, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Read other news stories.