DMD Student Ann Decker Wins First Place at ADEA

Sagstetter, Ann smallestAnn Decker, a member of the University of Florida College of Dentistry D.M.D. class of 2014, won first place in the Student Posters Competition during the 2014 American Association for Dental Research (ADEA) meeting in Charlotte, N.C., in March 2104, for her poster, “Epithelial Cell Function in the Progression of Periodontal Disease.”  The award for first place, sponsored by Dentsply International, is $500.

Decker is one of four UF College of Dentistry students who were selected in 2012 to participate in a year-long ADEA student fellowship program that provides dental and allied dental students at U.S. and Canadian institutions an opportunity to experience the benefits and rewards of teaching and an academic career.  She has spent the past two years working in with Shannon Wallet, Ph.D., in her lab. Wallet also serves as Decker’s research mentor.

“Ann’s work was integral in generating preliminary data for an R01 grant I received last year. Her work also resulted in a first author publication which is currently in preparation,” said Wallet, an associate professor in the Department of Periodontology.

After graduating from dental school in May 2014, Decker will be pursuing a dual Ph.D. and periodontics residency at the University of Michigan.