MOST Students and Mentors
Multidisciplinary Undergraduate and Graduate Research Training Under Guidance of Leading Faculty Mentors
Students in the MOST program work with world-class faculty, use cutting-edge technology and explore new directions from the bench to the bedside. Participants gain valuable experience not only conducting laboratory research but also improving planning and presentation skills. Students get mentorship in preparing abstracts for scientific meetings and literature review, and learn new laboratory techniques.
Student Researchers
Marybeth Francis, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Xianghong Luan
Research Project: Epigenetic Mechanisms in Periodontal Disease
Previous Degree: MS, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Student 2
Elizabeth Guirado, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Anne George
Research Project: Dentine mineralization
Previous Degree: B.S. Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami
student 3
Veronica Haywood, PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Luisa DiPietro
Research Project: Enzymatic Glycosylation and Wound Healing
Previous Degree: DPT, Marquette University
student 4
Stefanie Kall, PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dr. Arnon Lavie
Research Project: Probing Multiple Methods of Cancer Regulation via Choline Kinase Alpha
Previous degrees: MS in Biotechnology, Northwestern University; BS in Biochemistry, The Ohio State University
student 5
Daniel Kulakowski, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Mentor: Dr. Guido Pauli
Research Project : Biocompatibility of plant-derived biomaterials
Previous Degree: Ph.D. – The City University of New York
student 6
Angelica Lagunas, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. David Crowe
Research Project: Telomere DNA Damage response regulates cancer stem cell phenotype
Previous Degree: BS, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
student 7
Annette Merkel, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Anne George
Research Project: in Development
Previous Degree: B.S. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
student 8
Joshua Padovano, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Anne George
Research Project: Characterize DMP1 overexpression effects on endochondral and intramembranous bone development in a mouse model
Previous Degree: B.S. Bioengineering University of Illinois at Chicago
student 9
Russell P. Pesavento, DDS, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Mentor: Michael Johnson, College of Pharmacy
Research: Dual Project: Mechanistic study on VraS inhibitors in MRSA strains / Development of Lanthanide based Antimicrobial Agents for the Oral Cavity
Previous Degrees: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, PhD (Chemistry); University of Iowa College of Dentistry, DDS; University of Evansville, BA
student 10
Elizabeth Michalczyk, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Luisa DiPietro
Research Project: The Role of Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor as a Regulator of Wound Angiogenesis and Collagen Content Bachelor of Science, Neurobiology
student 11
Anna Maria Salapatas
B.S., Mathematics, Loyola University Chicago
M.S., Applied Mathematics, DePaul University
student 12
Gabriella Szewczyk, DMD/PhD candidate
Mentor: Dr. Michael Federle
Research Project: Quorum Sensing and Virulence Expression by Streptococcus mutans
Previous degree: B.S. University of Michigan
student 13
Juhi R Uttamani, PhD/Periodontics residency candidate
Mentor: Dr. Salvador Nares
Research area: Characterization of the role of microRNAs in regulating immune cell responses of the oral inflammatory disorders.
Previous Degree: Bachelors Of Dental Surgery (B.D.S), India
Faculty Mentors
Guy Adami
Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
Phimon Atwasawasan
Orthodontics
Satish Alapati
Endodontics
Srilata Bagchi
Oral Biology
Amelia M. Bartholomew
Surgery
Ana Bedran-Russo
Restorative Dentistry
Michael Colvard
Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
Lyndon Cooper
Oral Biology
David Crowe
Periodontics
Yang Dai
Bioengeneering
Luisa DiPietro
Periodontics (Center for Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration)
David Eddington
Bioengineering
Michael Federle
Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
Leslie Fung
Chemistry
Richard Gemeinhart
Biopharmaceutical Sciences
Anne George
Oral Biology
Michael E. Johnson
Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Salman Khetani
Bioengineering
Jerry Krishnan
Pulmonology
Timothy Koh
Kinesiology and Nutrition
Lester F. Lau
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Arnon Lavie
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Xianghong Luan
Oral Biology
Richard Magin
Bioengineering
Mathew Mathew
Restorative Dentistry
Salvador Nares
Periodontics
Steven Olson
Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases
Guido Pauli
Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
Clark Stanford
Restorative Dentistry
Sriram Ravindran
Oral Biology
Lin Tao
Oral Biology
Angela Tyner
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Terry G. Unterman
Medicine –Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Zaijie Jim Wang
Biopharmaceutical Sciences
Keiko Watanabe
Periodontics
Christine Wu
Pediatric Dentistry
Charles Zhou
Periodontics