2024 Highlights
- In August 2024, the University announced the reappointment of Dr. Mark S. Wolff as the Morton Amsterdam Dean of Penn Dental Medicine – he will continue to serve in this leadership role through June 2030. The reappointment followed a comprehensive review of the major accomplishments of Wolff’s first term as dean, along with an assessment of the new challenges and strategic opportunities that may face the School during the next five years.
- A new director of the School’s Center for Clinical & Translational Research was named with Modupe Coker joining Penn Dental Medicine as Assistant Dean of Clinical and Translational Research and Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Basic and Translational Sciences. Her faculty appointment was officially effective July 1, 2024. In her role as Assistant Dean, Dr. Coker is leading the School’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR) to support the growing research portfolio of Penn Dental Medicine.
- Two Penn Dental Medicine students — Parker Norman (D’25) and Samarth Setru (D’25) – were elected to leadership roles at the national level within the American Student Dental Association (ASDA). Setru served as ASDA President for the 2024-2025 term, while Norman was elected as ASDA’s Speaker of the House.
- In his role as Chair of the University Task Force on Antisemitism, Dean Wolff and the Task Force members completed their final report to Penn President Larry Jameson in May 2024.
- The School produced Research at Penn Dental Medicine, a publication highlighting the depth and diversity of the faculty and student studies that make up the School’s research enterprise.
- Two Penn Dental Medicine faculty members – Dr. Alonso Carrasco-Labra, Associate Professor within the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health (CIGOH), and Director of the Cochrane Oral Health Collaborating Center, and Flavia Teles, Associate Professor in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences and core member of the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD)– were among the panel of experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) for a public workshop exploring innovative practices and models for advancing oral health in the U.S. across the lifespan.
- Penn Dental Medicine collaborated with NASEM on organizing a workshop convened by NASEM’s Innovation in Health Professional Education (IHPE) Global Forum. The workshop, titled Sharing Models of Whole-Person Oral Health Education, was presented at Penn Dental Medicine, February 15-16. It focused on learning and sharing ideas on ways to improve the lives of persons with mental and physical disabilities by preventing oral disease and promoting overall health and wellbeing.
- A new award to advance research in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in oral health care was established by the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD), Penn Dental Medicine’s collaborative center with Penn Engineering. Jointly sponsored by the CiPD and the Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics(IBI) within Perelman School of Medicine, the CiPD-IBI Artificial Intelligence in Oral Health Innovation Award provides $25,000 in unrestricted funds to further develop collaborative research using AI-based approaches in oral-craniofacial health sciences. The award will be presented annually.
- Penn Dental Medicine co-led the development of a new guideline on acute dental pain management. In a conversation with Penn Today, Alonso Carrasco-Labra of Penn Dental Medicine explains how he and his colleagues approached the development of these new recommendations.
- Penn Dental Medicine expanded its community care locations, opening a new site in West Philadelphia within the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar. Penn Dental Medicine joined the Campus on Cedar as the dental care provider, with the new clinical care facility opening for patient care at the start of 2024.
- Penn Dental Medicine is continuing to advance care for persons with disabilities through the support of the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation Access to Care Grant Program, awarded a $620,900 grant over three years for educational programming targeted to caregivers.
- Penn Dental Medicine joined with the PA Coalition for Oral Health (PCOH)to co-organize and host a special event and continuing education program celebrating 70 years of community water fluoridation in Philadelphia and promoting water fluoridation as an essential public health measure. Held May 1 at Penn Dental Medicine, the program was attended by representatives from the American Dental Association, Pennsylvania Dental Association, Pennsylvania Dental Hygienists’ Association, and the Philadelphia County Dental Society, as well as government officials from Pennsylvania’s Department of Health and Department of Human Services, and leadership and staff from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, the Philadelphia Water Department, and Penn’s Water Center.
- Penn Dental Medicine and Yeditepe University Faculty of Dentistry formalized a strategic partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at enhancing global collaboration in dental education, research, and clinical training.
- Penn Dental Medicine’s Center for Integrative Global Oral Health (CIGOH) convened its Global Oral Health Forum II: Evidence to Advocacy, bringing together global leaders in health policy and economics, research, and education, and public health and advocacy for discussions around the theme of health advocacy. Held April 16-17 in Philadelphia, this was the second such forum organized by CIGOH, building upon the success of the Global Oral Health Forum I, held in Merida, Mexico, in 2023.
- Penn Dental Medicine’s Dr. Chun-Hsi Chung, Professor of Orthodontics and Chauncey M. F. Egel Endowed Chair of the Department of Orthodontics, has been recognized for his leadership in the specialty with the Middle Atlantic Society of Orthodontics (MASO) 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Two Penn Dental Medicine faculty members — George Hajishengallis, Thomas W. Evans Centennial Professor in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences, and Dr. Michel Koo, Professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Divisions of Community Oral Health and Pediatric Dentistry, have been once again recognized for the scope and depth of their research — named on the Highly Cited Researchers™ 2024 list from Clarivate.
- Penn Dental Medicine’s Miriam Robbins, Professor of Clinical Oral Medicine and Restorative Dentistry, and Director of the School’s Care Center for Persons with Disabilities, has been inducted into The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
- Peter Greco, Clinical Professor of Orthodontics at Penn Dental Medicine, has been recognized by The American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) with the 2024 Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award – the ABO’s highest honor.
- Penn Dental Medicine faculty and staff members were honored for excellence in teaching and service by the Class of 2024. Each academic year, the graduating class recognizes members of the faculty and staff who have had a significant impact on their educational experience.
- Penn Dental Medicine’s Dr. Eric Stoopler, Professor of Oral Medicine, has been recognized by the American Academy of Oral Medicine as the 2024 recipient of its Craig S. Miller Diamond Pin Award.
- Roopali Kulkarni (D19, GR19, GD21, RES21), Assistant Professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Oral Medicine and Assistant Director of the Postgraduate Oral Medicine Program, was recognized with two awards — the 2024 10 Under 10 Award presented by the American Dental Association (ADA) and the 2024 Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) Recognition Award.
- Dean Mark S. Wolff was awarded the Woods System of Care Distinguished Service Award, presented in appreciation and recognition of outstanding leadership, nationally and globally, in providing high-quality dental care to persons with disabilities.