Students, Faculty Spotlight Research at 2025 AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting
Philadelphia, PA – Penn Dental Medicine students and faculty were in the spotlight at the 2025 AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting & Exhibition, held in New York City, New York, March 12-15. More than 70 students and faculty researchers from the University of Pennsylvania participated in the scientific meeting, presenting cutting-edge research that is contributing to advancements in the field of oral health.
“We are deeply grateful for the faculty mentors, whose guidance shapes the next generation of practitioners, scientists, and academic leaders,” said Dr. Esra Sahingur, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Student Research. “Generous support from our school, NIH-funded grants, and dedicated alumni donations enables groundbreaking discoveries and empowers students to advance science, share their findings with broader community, and improve patient care.”
Several researchers received prestigious awards and recognitions for their contributions. Among the notable recognitions include the following.
Student Awards/Recognitions
AADOCR Student Research Fellowship
This fellowship encourages dental students in the U.S. to consider careers in oral health research. Upon completing their research projects, recipients present them at a future AADOCR meeting. Five DMD students were recognized with a fellowship award.
- Dayoon Chang, D’27, Dissecting Elastic Mechanics in Oral Cancer Tumor Regulation, (Mentor: Kyle Vining, D.D.S., Ph.D.)
- Zilin Guo, D’27, Production and Characterization of Bispecific Antibodies Targeting Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein C (gC), (Mentor: Gary H. Cohen, PhD)
- Yesul (Ashley) Kang, D’27, Acetaldehyde-driven DNA Damage, Fanconi Anemia, And Oral Microbiome Carcinogenesis, (Mentor: Flavia Teles, DDS, MS, DMSc)
- Sherry Schneider, D’27, Modulation of Cytolethal Distending Toxin Induced Inflammation by Synthetic Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside (LGM2605) in Macrophages, (Mentor: Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia, PhD)
- Samuel Suslavich, D’28, The Impact of Fisetin On Gingival Senescence and Bone Phenotype in Aging Mice, (Mentor: Sinem Esra Sahingur, DDS, MS, PhD)
AADOCR Bloc Travel Grant
This grant supports U.S. dental and PhD students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows to attend the AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting & Exhibition to present scientific papers.
- Peyton Maccarone, D’26 – Stability of Le Fort III Distraction Osteogenesis in Syndromic Craniosynostosis (Mentor: Drs. Helen Jeon and Nah-Cederquist, Dept. of Orthodontics)
AADOCR National Student Research Group Recognition
The Vernon Brightman Research Society (VBRS) at Penn Dental Medicine was recognized by the National Student Research Group (NSRG) for having the most new student members in the 2024-2025 academic year. Society’s recent efforts to expand membership reflect its mission to cultivate the next generation of clinician-scientists and leaders in dental research.
AADOCR NSRG 411 Rapid Research Competition
- Peyton Maccarone, D’26 – 2nd Place for research on the long-term stability of Le Fort III distraction osteogenesis, a critical procedure for craniofacial reconstruction in syndromic craniosynostosis. (Mentor: Drs. Helen Jeon and Nah-Cederquist, Dept. of Orthodontics)
Student & Postdoc Presentations
Penn Dental Medicine students and postdoctoral researchers that presented groundbreaking research at the 2025 AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting were the following:
| Presenter | Affiliation | Presentation Title | Mentor |
| Sara Aldosary | GD’26 | Targeting Inflammatory Chemokine Receptor in Fibroblasts to Reduce Eosinophilic Inflammation | Dana T. Graves, DDS, DMSc |
| Bushra Alghamdi | GD’26 | Single-cell RNA Sequencing Analysis of the Impact of Diabetes on the Host Response in Bacteria-Induced Periodontitis | Dana T. Graves, DDS, DMSc |
| Shahd Almasswary | GD’26 | Protective Role of Bitter Taste Signaling Cascade in Modulating Pulpitis | Marco Tizzano, Ph.D. |
| Hannah Bonelli | GR’28 | Accessible Stem Cells Sources for Chondrogenic Temporomandibular Joint Repair | Riccardo L. Gottardi, PhD |
| Adam Bouhamdan | D’27 | Impact Of BTO On Adhesion and Transcriptomics | Geelsu Hwang, PhD |
| Dayoon Chang | D’27 | Dissecting Elastic Mechanics in Oral Cancer Tumor Regulation | Kyle Vining, D.D.S., Ph.D. |
| Qinyuan (Doris) Chen | D’25 | Hydroxyapatite-Targeted Delivery via Lipid Nanoparticles for Periodontal Diseases | Kyle Vining, D.D.S., Ph.D. |
| BingLing Chen | C’25 | Extracellular Matrix Stiffness Dependent Behavior of Dental Pulp Stem Cells | Kyle Vining, D.D.S., Ph.D. |
| Abdulaziz Hakeem | GD’25 | Inpp5e Is Essential for Bone Development and Osteoclast Differentiation | Shuying (Sheri) Yang, MD, MS, PhD |
| Matthew Halpert | D’27 | Patient Attitudes on Dentists Administering HPV and HSV Vaccines | Katherine France, DMD, MBE |
| Jessica Hao | D’26 | pH-Responsive ZIF-8 Precisely Induces Apoptosis of Oral Cancer Cells | Chider Chen, PhD |
| Julie Hong | D’26 | Regulation of the Epithelial Barrier Function via E-Cadherin/β-catenin Complex | Dana T. Graves, DDS, DMSc and Hyeran Helen Jeon, DDS, MSD, DScD |
| Megi Hysa | C’26 | Dasatinib and Quercetin Alleviate Senescence in Gingival Keratinocytes | Sinem Esra Sahingur, DDS, MS, PhD |
| Diana Joo | GD’25 | Trismus in Maxillofacial Reconstruction: Systematic Review and Case Studies | Nupur Patel, BDS, DMD, MS, FACP and Myungwoo “Brian” Chang, DDS, FACP, FAAMP |
| Michelle Joung | D’26 | Two Step-Sintering Suppress Grain Growth and Improves Flexural Strength of Dental Zirconia | Yu Zhang, PhD |
| Yesul Kang | D’27 | Acetaldehyde-driven DNA Damage, Fanconi Anemia, And Oral Microbiome Carcinogenesis | Flavia Teles, DDS, MS, DMSc |
| Hagar Kenawy | Post-Doc | Decellularized Meniscus (MEND) Promotes Osteogenesis for Mandibular Bone Reconstruction | Riccardo L. Gottardi, PhD |
| Afnan Khalifah | GD’25 | Determinants of Oral Health in People with HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy | Kelly L. Jordan-Sciutto, PhD and Temitope Omolehinwa, BDS, DScD, DMD |
| Ajay Kumar | D’26 | Oral Pro-Insulin Bio-Encapsulated in Plant Cells | Henry Daniell, PhD |
| Regina Lekumovich | D’26 | Cxcl-12 Secreted by Adiponectin+ Cells Regulates Bone Turnover and Homeostasis | Chider Chen |
| Xiaolei Li | Post-Doc | Construction of Precise Dynamic Temporomandibular Joint Musculoskeletal Finite Element Model | Hyun (Michel) Koo, DDS, MS, PhD |
| Elisa Lipkin | D’27 | Sex-Dependent Effects of Gut Microbial Metabolites in Acute Dental Pain | Katherine N. Theken, Pharm.D., Ph.D. |
| Caroline Littlejohn | GD’25 | Effects of Antibiotics on Oral Microbiota in the REMBRANDT Study | Yu-Cheng Chang, DDS, MS, DMD |
| Peyton Maccarone | D’26 | Stability of Le Fort III Distraction Osteogenesis in Syndromic Craniosynostosis | Hyun-Duck Nah-Cederquist, DMD, PhD |
| Hardik Makkar | Post-Doc | Mechanical Regulation of Inflammation in Periodontal Health and Disease | Kyle Vining, D.D.S., Ph.D. |
| Christian Mastroianni | D’27 | Predicting Voluntary Bite Force from Craniofacial Morphology | Myra F. Laird, Ph.D. |
| Srighana Nadella | D’25 | Effect of Infectious Disease Consultations on Antibiotic Duration in Surgically-Managed MRONJ | Neeraj Panchal, DDS, MD, MA and Katherine N. Theken, Pharm.D., Ph.D. |
| Meigan Niu | D’26 | Assessment of Parent Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and Vaccination | Katherine France, DMD, MBE |
| Nil Pandey | Post-Doc | Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Stabilize Stannous Fluoride for Enhanced Caries Prevention | Hyun (Michel) Koo, DDS, MS, PhD |
| Mary Papandreas | D’26 | When Did “I Don’t Know” Become a Diagnosis? | Michael Glick, DMD and Alonso Carrasco-Labra, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D. |
| Kyungjoon Park | D’25 | Aging Effects on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Responses to Mechanical Force | Hyeran Helen Jeon, DDS, MSD, DScD |
| Emon Shaaf | D’26 | Investigation of Ferroptotic Cell Death Mechanism in Human Periodontitis | Kang I Ko, DMD, DScD |
| Anisha Shah | D’26 | Investigating the Effect of Fungal – Derived β-Glucan On Trained Osteoclastogensis | George Hajishengallis, DDS, PhD |
| Jasmine Shokri | D’27 | Patient Knowledge and Perception on Dentists’ Role in HPV Vaccination | Katherine France, DMD, MBE |
| Tucker Sprayberry | D’27 | Simulating the Effects of Nocturnal Bruxism On Clear Aligners | Myra F. Laird, Ph.D. |
| Samuel Suslavich | D’28 | Dasatinib and Quercetin Limit Gingival Senescence, Inflammation, and Bone Loss | Sinem Esra Sahingur, DDS, MS, PhD |
| Kevin Tao | C’23,D’26 | A Customizable 3D Printed Platform for Dynamic Oral Biofilm Characterization | Geelsu Hwang, PhD |
| Hong Huy Tran | Post-Doc | Magnetic Microcapsule Robots for Targeted Biofilm Treatment in Oral Environments | Hyun (Michel) Koo, DDS, MS, PhD |
| Michael Troka | C’23, D’26 | TrokaChatML: A Machine Learning Model for ScRNAseq Cell-Cell Communication Discovery | Dana T. Graves, DDS, DMSc |
| Winslow Wanglee | D’27 | Bone Marrow Adipocytes Regulate Osteoclastogenesis via Cxcl12-Cxcr4 Signaling | Chider Chen |
| Jessica Winarto | D’26 | Metformin and Melatonin Synergistically Induced Cell Death in OSCC | Qunzhou Zhang, PhD and James Gates DMD, MD, FACS and Anh D. Le, DDS, PhD |
| Mousa Younesi | Post-Doc | Omics Analysis of Fungal Infected Oral Mucosa Using Mouth-on-a-Chip Platform | Dongeun (Dan) Huh, PhD |
| Jonathan Zhou | D’26 | Examining The Role Of Immunoregulatory Oral Fibroblasts In Experimental Periodontitis | Kang I Ko, DMD, DScD |