Members of the inaugural cohort of fellows in the Center for Innovation and Precision Dentistry (CiPD)’s NIDCR T90/R90 Postdoctoral Training Program have been recognized for their research activities with fellows receiving awards from the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR), the Society for Biomaterials, and the Osteology Foundation.

Zhi Ren won first place in the Fives-Taylor Award at the AADOCR Mini Symposium for Young Investigators. A postdoctoral fellow in the labs of Hyun (Michel) Koo at Penn Dental Medicine and Kathleen Stebe at Penn Engineering, Dr. Ren researches how bacterial and fungal pathogens interact in the oral cavity to form a sticky plaque biofilm on teeth, which gives rise to severe childhood tooth decay that affects millions of children worldwide. In his award-winning study, titled “Interkingdom Assemblages in Saliva Display Group-Level Migratory Surface Mobility,” Dr. Ren discovered that bacteria and fungi that are naturally present in the saliva of toddlers with severe decay can form superorganisms able to move and rapidly spread on tooth surfaces.

Justin Burrell won second place in the AADOCR Hatton Competition postdoctoral category for his research. Dr. Burrell works with Anh Le in Penn Dental Medicine’s department of oral surgery/pharmacology and D. Kacy Cullen of Penn Medicine. Together, their interdisciplinary team of clinician-scientists, biologists, and neuroengineers have been developing novel therapies to expedite facial nerve regeneration and increase meaningful functional recovery.

Marshall Padilla earned third place at the Society for Biomaterials Postdoctoral Recognition Award Competition for his project, “Branched lipid architecture improves lipid-nanoparticle-based mRNA delivery to the liver via enhanced endosomal escape.” Dr. Padilla was also a finalist in the AADOCR Hatton Award Competition, presenting on a separate project titled “Lipid Nanoparticle Optimization for mRNA-based Oral Cancer Therapy.” Both projects employ lipid nanoparticles, the same delivery vehicles used in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine technology. A postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael Mitchell of Penn Engineering, Dr. Padilla’s research focuses on developing new ways to enhance the efficacy and safety of lipid nanoparticle technology and its applications in dentistry and biomedicine. He works in collaboration with Shuying (Sheri) Yang and Anh Le in Penn Dental Medicine.

Dennis Sourvanos, GD’23, DScD’23, was the recipient of the Trainee Travel Grant award of the Osteology Foundation (Lucerne, Switzerland). Dr. Sourvanos presented his project titled “Validating Head-and-Neck Human-Tissue Optical Properties for Photobiomodulation and Photodynamic Therapies” at the International Osteology Symposium in Barcelona, Spain and at the 2023 AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting. Dr. Sourvanos has worked with Joseph Fiorellini in Penn Dental Medicine’s department of periodontics and Timothy Zhu in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s department of radiation oncology and the Smilow Center for Translational Research.

The fellows are halfway through CiPD’s two-year NIDCR T90/R90 postdoctoral training program, which aims to specifically focus on the oral microbiome, host immunity, and tissue regeneration. Each of these topics ties into different aspects of oral health, from tooth decay and periodontal disease to the needs of head and neck cancer patients.

“We are so proud of the outstanding work of all our fellows,” said Dr. Koo. “They are collectively helping to make great strides in exploring new technologies to advance oral health innovations and improve patient care.”