Congratulations to Nina Guba, a member of the D.M.D. Class of 2015, who represented the University of Florida at the 2012 ADA Annual Session in October in San Francisco, Ca.
Guba was one of 70 student clinicians who participated in the 53rd Annual ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Award Program and Reception. The students represented research conducted across 36 countries.
The Student Clinician Research Program (SCADA) began during the centennial of the ADA in New York City in 1959, as a joint venture between DENTSPLY and the American Dental Association. Dr. Harold Hillenbrand, then Executive Director of the ADA and Mr. Henry M. Thornton, then President of DENTSPLY International, initiated the first program in New York City to promote student research and participation in organized dentistry.
Today over 5,000 students participate in this program annually. Originally, the program consisted of a table clinic presentation where students demonstrated a new technique. It has grown immensely, with students currently presenting their research results of their clinical, basic science or public health research.
Guba was selected to attend the international conference after winning second place in the 2012 Student Research Group DENTSPLY/Caulk competition in the clinical science category during the American Association of Dental Researchers Annual Meeting in Tampa in March.
Guba’s presentation, “Inflammatory response of Aggressive Periodontitis upon Stimulation of toll-like receptors,” discussed her work comparing the inflammatory response of patients with localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP) to the response of their healthy siblings and controls when toll-like receptors were stimulated. LAP is a severe, rapidly progressive form of periodontal disease that can result in tooth loss.