VCU dental students present research at ADEA conference in New Orleans

By Lindsay McClaire
University News Services

Six Virginia Commonwealth University dental students attended the annual meeting of the American Dental Education Association in New Orleans.

Students attending the conference last month were seniors Ben Crowley, Aaric Allred and Ryan Edmunds; juniors My Tran and Jonathan Gorman; and second-year student Gloria Kim.

Participating professors from VCU were Sharon Lanning, D.D.S., assistant professor in the Department of Periodontics; Carolyn Booker assistant dean of student services; Riki Gottlieb, D.M.D., assistant professor in the Department of General Practice; and Ronald Hunt, D.D.S., dean of the VCU School of Dentistry.

All served as officers of various groups at the meeting and in the ADEA House of Delegates.

“VCU members were particularly active at the conference,” said Martha Bushong, assistant director of external relations in the School of Dentistry.

A variety of awards went to the students and the VCU ADEA chapter, including the “most innovative chapter” title. According to Bushong, the award is “a reflection of the hard work of our student officers and members.”

Lanning won the Council of Students’ Junior Faculty Award for her hard work, talent and dedication in teaching. Gorman, chapter president, was selected as one of two students to represent the southeast region in the national conference later this year. Edmunds also participated in events relating to his ADEA teaching fellowship, for which Lanning was his mentor.
 
Allred, Crowley, Edmunds and Gorman all presented research posters during the conference. Tran, Kim, Edmunds, Crowley and Gorman all represented VCU at the Council of Students meeting.

The VCU class of 1951 established an endowment to aid students in research and education and that endowment provided assistance for the students to present their findings at the ADEA conference.