SIUE Is Among 11 Centers of Excellence in Pain Education
SIU SDM Faculty Member to Serve as Co-Investigator
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pain Consortium has selected Southern Illinois University Edwardsville among 11 institutions as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs). The CoEPEs will act as hubs for the development, evaluation and distribution of pain management curriculum resources for medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy schools to enhance and improve how health care professionals are taught about pain and its treatment. Twenty institutes, centers and offices at NIH are involved in the consortium.
A number of SIUE faculty members will serve as co-investigators, including Dr. Kevin Rowland from the SIU School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Kevin Rowland is an Associate Professor and Section Head of Physiology at SIU SDM.
SIUE School of Pharmacy associate professor Chris Herndon, PharmD., led the grant application. Saint Louis University is also collaborating with SIUE.
The new Centers of Excellence in Pain Education were selected by the NIH Pain Consortium after a contract solicitation process and review. Along with SIUE, the other awardees are the University of Washington, Seattle; the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia; the University of Rochester, N.Y.; the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston; the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, Philadelphia; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and the University of Pittsburgh.
Chronic pain affects about 100 million Americans, costing up to $635 billion in medical treatment and lost productivity, and producing immeasurable suffering for people of all ages. Yet, pain treatment is not taught extensively in many health professional schools, and clinical approaches can be inconsistent. Types of pain of particular interest to the NIH Pain Consortium are rehabilitation pain, arthritis and musculoskeletal pain, neuropathic pain and headache pain.
SIU SDM Student Researcher Recognized
Brad Carn, a dental student at (now a graduate of) the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, recently strung together a series of research-related successes. In the course of two short weeks during the spring of 2012, he was selected for an oral presentation at a national research meeting; earned an esteemed research award from a distinguished dental organization; and was recognized on a well-respected website for health professionals.
On March 22, Brad Carn was selected for an oral presentation at the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Annual Meeting. He presented research related to a new topical anesthetic being tested for pulpal anesthesia. His presentation reported on a randomized double-blind pain treatment analysis, comparing the new anesthetic with benzocaine—a commonly used topical anesthetic—and a placebo.
On April 2, 2012, Brad Carn received the Dr. Irwin B. Robinson Memorial Award for Student-Research from the Odontographic Society of Chicago Research and Education Foundation. The annual award is presented to one student researcher from each of the two dental schools in Illinois. The purpose of the award is to recognize student researchers for their research efforts during their dental education. The award celebrates the work of the student investigator in a scientific project related to dentistry and other health-sciences.
On April 5, 2012, Brad Carn was recognized through an article published about his AADR research presentation that was posted to Medscape. Medscape is a part of the WebMD Health Professional Network and offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web's most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools.
Brad Carn was mentored in his research by Dr. Kevin Rowland.
SIU Dental Student Wins National Student Research Group Award
The seventeenth Hinman Student Research Symposium was held October 28-30, 2011 at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The Symposium featured oral and poster presentations of research projects by dental students and graduate students from dental schools across the nation. At this year’s Symposium, 90 students represented 41 dental schools in 24 states, the District of Columbia, and 4 Canadian provinces.
Eight awards were given for the most outstanding student presentations, four in clinical research and four in basic science research. In addition, one presentation won the 2011 President’s Award for Excellence in Dental Research from the National Students Research Group (NSRG) of the American Association for Dental Research. This year the NSRG Award was presented to Jillian Rigert of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.
Ms. Rigert earned the award for her oral presentation, entitled “The Role of TRPA1 in nociception following pulpal exposure of Sprague-Dawley rats.” Her research project focused on pain management in dentistry and medicine. She studied the time course of expression of the TRPA1 receptor, which has a role in pain perception following injury to dental pulp. The project was directed by Dr. Kevin Rowland, Associate Professor of Physiology at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.
The Symposium is sponsored by the University of Tennessee, College of Dentistry and co-sponsored by the Hinman Dental Society. The Symposium is also supported in part by grants from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the ADEAGies Foundation, the Procter & Gamble Company, and the Tennessee Dental Association Foundation.
2011 President’s Award for Excellence in Dental Research Photo: 1
Photo Caption 1: Kaitrin Baloue (left), the current National Students Research Group President, presents Jillian Riggert (right), a Year III dental student at the SIU dental school, with the NSRG Award at the 2011 Hinman Student Research Symposium.
The 2012 SIU School of Dental Medicine Research Day was held on April 10, 2012. The 2012 Research Day featured guest speaker, Dr. Jeffrey L. Ebersole, President of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR). The annual Student Table Clinic Competition again highlighted the outstanding research of the SIU SDM dental students.
In addition to serving as the President of the AADR, Dr. Ebersole is the Alvin L. Morris Professor of Oral Health Research, Director of the Center for Oral Health Research and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Dentistry at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Jeffery Ebersole shared two presentations during the SIU SDM Research Day.
The morning session was entitled, “Ontogeny of the Innate Immune System in the Oral Cavity,” and the afternoon session was entitled, “Salivary Biodiagnostics in Oral and Systemic Diseases.” Both sessions were well received by the faculty, staff and students in attendance.
Immediately following Dr. Ebersole’s afternoon presentation, the overall winner of the Student Table Clinic Competition was announced. Each year, the Table Clinic Competition is the hallmark of the School of Dental Medicine’s Research Day. Nine dental students competed in the competition this year.
Mr. Eric Castle, a Year II student, was named the overall winner of the School of Dental Medicine Annual Table Clinic Competition for his research entitled, “The Application of a New Hydrogel to a Bone Deficit Model in the Rat.” Mr. Castle also received the Illinois State Dental Society (ISDS) Foundation’s Basic Science Award for his research efforts.
In addition to a recognition plaque and monetary award, Mr. Castle will represent the SIU School of Dental Medicine at the 2012 American Dental Association (ADA)/Dentsply Student Clinician Program at the ADA Annual Session, which will be held in San Francisco in October. Mr. Castle was mentored in his research by Drs. William Whitson and Douglas Miley.
Ms. Kristi Golabek earned second place overall among table clinic competition participants. Her research was entitled, “A Comparison of Sports and Energy Drinks—Physiochemical Properties and Effects on Enamel.” Ms. Golabek’s research also earned the ISDS Foundation’s Clinical Science Award. As second place overall winner, Ms. Golabek will present her table clinic at the Hinman Student Research Symposium in Memphis, TN. Her faculty mentor was Dr. Poonam Jain.
Mr. Chris Safranski earned third place overall and first place among Year II participants for his table clinic research entitled, “Dentinal Tubule Penetration of Enterococcus faecalis in Mineralized and Demineralized Root Tissue.” As third place overall winner, Mr. Safranski will present his table clinic at the Hinman Student Research Symposium in Memphis, TN. Mr. Safranski was mentored in his research by Drs. Jane Gillespie and Charles Poeschl.
Among other award winners, Ms. Jillian Rigert earned the ISDS Foundation’s Literature Review/Dental Education Award and First Place among Year III participants in the table clinic competition. Ms. Rachel Ward earned First Place among Year IV participants.
The ISDS Foundation award winners each earn a monetary award and a trip to the ISDS conference in Schaumburg, IL in September. The ISDS Foundation also enlisted the help of Drs. Sue Bishop, Darryll Beard and LuAnne McClean to serve as judges for the Student Table Clinic Competition.
From the SIU School of Dental Medicine faculty, Drs. Cyril Pandarakalam and Dr. Dan Welch served as judges. The SIU dental school is always grateful for those individuals who serve as judges for the Student Table Clinic Competition.
2012 Research Day Photos: 1 | 2
Photo Caption 1: Dr. Jeffrey L. Ebersole, SIU SDM Research Day Guest Speaker joins Dr. Bruce Rotter, Dean of the SIU School of Dental Medicine, and Dr. Jane Gillespie, Director of Research at the SIU School of Dental Medicine, after the afternoon session.
Photo Caption 2: Mr. Eric Castle—First Place Overall Winner of the 2012 Student Table Clinic Competition.
Research Day
Each year, the SIU SDM Research Day features the annual Student Table Clinic Competition. Winners of the competition earn opportunities to present their research at research competitions throughout the country. A sample of the student research presented at the annual Student Table Clinic Competition in recent years follows (click on each image for content):
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
Local Student Research Group Start Up Kit
Local Student Research Group (SRG) Start Up Kit Presented By The American Association of Dental Research (AADR) National Student Research Group (NSRG)
To view the presentation, click here:
http://www.iadr.org/files/public/09NSRGStartUpKit.ppt
2013 Dean's Summer Student Research Program
Each year, funding is made available for student participation in summer research, sponsored by SDM faculty. Up to five (5) research fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis as determined by merit of a submitted research proposal. This program is designed to introduce a student to research. Funding for a second year student is approved only in rare cases. Details of the research program and how to apply are offered through the links that follow:
2013 Mentored Summer Student Research Program
The primary purpose of the Mentored Student Summer Research program is to provide expanded research opportunities for dental students. Awards made under this program are distinct from the Dean’s Summer Student Research Program with respect to the level of student effort on the project. The purpose of the program is to increase student participation in research activities in the summer and to increase opportunities for faculty research. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis as determined by merit of a submitted research proposal. Proposals from faculty mentoring Year 1 students will be given priority, since these students are not eligible to work in the summer by any other mechanism; however students from Years 2 and 3 are also eligible to apply. Details of the research program and how to apply are offered through the links that follow:
American Association of Oral Biologists Award
Each year, one student earns the American Association of Oral Biologists Award. The award recognizes a senior dental student who has made significant contributions to the advancement of oral biology and has demonstrated the potential for further achievement in this field. This award recognizes the ability of the student to think critically and to participate in original research related to oral biology, as well as the student's academic achievement and enthusiasm for oral biology. Jeffrey Howenstein earned the honor and award for the Class of 2012.
Quintessence Award for Research Achievement
Each year, one student earns the Quintessence Award for Research Achievement. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in research. Bradley Carn earned the honor and award for the Class of 2012.
Advanced Investigation Award Application Forms
Other Office of Research Forms