Office of Research: News

The College of Dentistry and Dr. Guy R. Adami, Associate Professor, Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and Chair of the Edward C. Wach Fund Committee, would like to announce this year’s award recipients for the Edward C. Wach Fund: Dr. Dena Fischer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and Dr. Yana Nedvetsky, Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthodontics.

Dr. Dena J. Fischer received $14,788 to evaluate saliva samples from patients with and without oral lesions in order to better determine how saliva’s various components can be used to identify the body’s immune responses and the presence of cancers and infections in patients. Her effort to identify disease-specific biomarkers in saliva samples is consistent with an initiative by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to use saliva as a non-invasive, cost-effective diagnostic fluid in identifying congenital, autoimmune, endocrine, infectious, and neoplastic disorders and in monitoring specific oral and systemic diseases. The results of this study will be applied to another study, in which Dr. Fischer will identify disease-specific biomarkers in saliva samples from a population of cancer patients in hospice care.

Dr. Yana Nedvetsky received $15,000 to evaluate and establish a new protocol for the surgical enhancement of orthodontic tooth movement known as “flapless corticotomy.” This proposed technique takes advantage of recent research discoveries, at the cellular level, which have substantially enhanced general understanding of how and why teeth move. Existing protocol for accelerating tooth movement as part of a patient’s general plan of orthodontia have included surgical invasion of the alveolar bone surrounding a tooth. “Flapless corticotomy,” designed to achieve the same result, is considered far less invasive to bone and tissues, and would decrease patient discomfort, increase patient acceptance of the technique, and perhaps reduce the amount of time patients spend in the orthodontist’s chair.