After a remarkable and fruitful 34-year academic career, the last decade of which was at Iowa, Dr. Isabelle Denry will be retiring from Iowa on May 3, 2021. Denry’s excellence as a scientist, as reflected in her recent IADR Distinguished Scientist Award, will be felt for years to come at the College of Dentistry. Read more about Dr. Denry on the College of Dentistry website.

For the past six years, the Department of Prosthodontics has celebrated National Prosthodontics Awareness week by recruiting six low-income veterans to receive a free, complete set of dentures. To commemorate this annual event and in recognition of National Prosthodontics Awareness Week, Governor Kim Reynolds declared April 5-9 Iowa Prosthodontics Awareness Week. Read more on the College of Dentistry website.    

Personalized medicine meets the unique needs of each patient, and Dr. Christopher Barwacz’s research is focused on improving and optimizing implant therapy to meet the specific needs of each individual patient. Read more about Dr. Barwacz’s contributions to personalized implantology on the College of Dentistry website.

On March 1, Dr. Lina Moreno, associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics, was named the interim Department Executive Officer of her department until a permanent chair is named for the department. Read more about Dr. Moreno’s career and accomplishments on the College of Dentistry website. 

The Osteology Foundation awarded Dr. Satheesh Elangovan, professor in periodontics and Dr. Aliasger Salem, professor in pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics, $28K for their proof of concept investigation, "A Novel Topical Molecular Therapeutics to Induce Keratinization in Non-Keratinized Mucosa." Read more about the project on the College of Dentistry website.

On March 23, the College of Dentistry announced that Dr. Gustavo Avila Ortiz, the chair of the Department of Periodontics, is the inaugural Philip Lainson Professor of Periodontics. Dr. Lainson was the longtime chair of the Department of Periodontics, and this professorship is intended to honor Dr. Lainson and support advances in the field of periodontics. Read Dean Johnsen’s announcement of the professorship and Dr. Avila Ortiz’s statement about the award on the College of Dentistry website.

Dr. Erica Teixeira, associate professor and chair of the Department of Operative Dentistry, was awarded a $35K  subcontract from the National Institutes of Health via the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to help develop a boron nitride nanosheet (BNNS)-based filler system to enhance dental composite performance in tooth restorations. Read more about the project on the College of Dentistry website.