The UF College of Dentistry hosted its 2025 celebration of research, continuing education and the American Student Dental Association – Spring Synergy – on Friday, April 11 at the Reitz Union, co-sponsored by UF Continuing Dental Education, UFCD’s Office of Research and the UF chapter of the American Student Dental Association, or ASDA. A record breaking total of 87 students, residents, faculty and staff presented posters at Spring Synergy. Nine students, ranging from pre-dental/undergraduate students to Ph.D./postdoctoral students, earned first- and second-place honors in the poster presentation competition.
Natasha Patel was the college’s SCADA — Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application — winner. Patel’s SCADA win designates her as the College of Dentistry’s representative in the SCADA competition at the 2026 IADR/AADOCR Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, including conference registration, air travel and hotel accommodations.
Thank you to our faculty members who served as judges for the day’s poster competition.
The Robert L. Kaplan Scholar at Spring Synergy is annually supported by the Robert L. Kaplan Visiting Professorship Fund, which honors Kaplan who was past president of the American Academy of Restorative Dentistry. Kaplan was the chairman of the Dental Advisory Committee that was instrumental in making the case for a dental school in Florida and played a critical role in establishing UFCD.
Lastly, thank you to our local ASDA chapter for sponsoring and organizing the Spring Synergy vendor fair. UFCD appreciates all those vendors who took the time to visit UF to showcase the latest and greatest equipment, swag and gear for our dental profession and those graduating Gator Dentists going into clinical practice.
2025 Spring Synergy winners receive $1,000 (first place) and $500 (second place) to fund presenting their research in a scientific meeting.
2025 Spring Synergy Poster Winners
SCADA WINNER: Natasha Patel | Project: Oral Keratinocyte Extracellular Vesicular Cargo Immunomodulate Macrophage Function
Pre-Dental/Undergraduate
1st Place – Ariana Robinson | DNA Methylation of the NR3C1 Gene and its Association with Chronic Pain
2nd Place – Sam Curtis | BRIDGE the Gap: Bolstering Resources for Inclusive Dental Growth and Equity in Gainesville, Florida
DMD
1st Place – Julia Volpi | Nrf2 Regulation of Innate Immune Response of Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts
2nd Place – Isabella Bridges | Plant-Derived Exosome Effects on Pain and Locomotion in Rats
MS/Resident
1st Place – Janelle Aguirre | Impact of Allograft and Xenograft Ridge Preservation on Dental Implant Outcomes: A Retrospective Study
2nd Place – Natalie Williams | Analysis of Crestal Bone Loss within the First Year after Placement in Healed Bone: A Prospective, Observational Clinical Study of the T3 Dental Implant System
PhD/PostDoc
1st Place – Callahan Katrak | Combinatorial H2O2-NaF Treatment That Mitigates Streptococcus Mutans-Candida Albicans Synergism
2nd Place – Miranda Carter | Preliminary Investigations into the Effects of Supraphysiological Salivary Zinc Levels on Oral Microbiome Composition
Faculty/Staff
1st Place – Soamy Montesino-Goicolea | Sleep Impairment Mediates Pain-Related Reductions in Brain Clearance Capacity
2nd Place – Matthew Warchol | Hyaluronic-Acid-Nitric-Oxide-Release Systems Affect Macrophage Phenotype and Function
2025 Spring Synergy Program & Abstracts Here