Typically, each year high-achieving dental students are invited to apply to the School of Dentistry Summer Scholars Program.  The students who are selected receive a stipend and, more importantly, the opportunity to participate in research projects in collaboration with faculty mentors.  During the program’s nine-week summer component, students work in the School of Dentistry’s state-of-the-art laboratories and clinics.  Hands-on duties encompass a wide range of research tasks, such as conducting literature searches, preparing specimens, gathering data and analyzing results.  At the end of the summer, each produce a research paper and submit a research abstract for the next national meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) at which they present their research results in poster presentations.

On July 30, the Summer Scholars also participated in a closed poster competition to determine UMKC’s representative for the 2027 Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application (SCADA), which will be held at the AADOCR meeting in Minneapolis in March of 2027.  This year, Dr. JoAnna Scott, Dr. Melanie Simmer-Beck, Dr. Jim Wahll III, and Dr. Meghan Wendland served on the panel of judges.   

Sharli Brown (D2) was selected as the winner of the poster competition and will represent UMKC at AADOCR in 2027.  Her poster title is ‘Biostability of Tri-amide-Crosslinked Dentin Collagen under Oral Environmental Challenges’.  Sharli’s project mentors are Dr. Yong Wang and Dr. Viviane Hass.  While Sharli is the only UMKC Summer Scholar participating in the 2027 SCADA poster competition, the other scholars will also travel to Minneapolis in 2027 and will present their posters as part of the general session.

In addition to selecting our UMKC representative for the national SCADA competition, SOD also recognizes the runner up of the poster competition with the Student Research Day travel award, supported through AADOCR.  This year, Ahmad Jesri (D2) received this recognition for his poster titled ‘Quantitative Assessment of Orofacial Bones in Cleft Lip/Palate Mouse Models’.  His project mentor is Dr. Timothy Cox.

Congratulations to this year’s awardees and to all the scholars for their accomplishments this summer!

Pictured above (left to right): Dr. Mary Walker (Program Director), Sharli Brown, Ahmad Jesri, Samantha Scott, Caitlyn Pearson, Madison Kunz, Prof. Emma Kaz Frick (Program Co-Director)

Upon successful completion of the program following the Spring meeting, students earn one credit hour of mentored study. See below for a complete list of the 2026-27 scholars, mentors, and projects.

Project: Biostability of Tri-amide-Crosslinked Dentin Collagen under Oral Environmental Challenges
Scholar: Sharli Brown, DDS Class of 2029
Mentors: Dr. Yong Wang, Dr. Viviane Hass

Project: Quantitative Assessment of Orofacial Bones in Cleft Lip/Palate Mouse Models
Scholar: Ahmad Jesri, DDS Class of 2029
Mentor: Dr. Timothy Cox

Project: Implant therapy success and implant-related factors in a predoctoral curriculum
Scholar: Caitlyn Pearson, DDS Class of 2029
Mentors: Dr. Cynthia Petrie, Dr. Mary P. Walker

Project: Early Life Stress and Adversity Impact Mandible Development Differently
Scholar: Madison Kunz, DDS Class of 2029
Mentors: Dr. Erin Ealba Bumann, Portia Hahn Leat

Project: FTIR Imaging Analysis for Perineural Invasion in OSCC Biopsy Tissues
Scholar: Samantha Scott, DDS Class of 2029
Mentors: Dr. Rong (Rose) Wang, Dr. Naren Raja, Dr. Priti Rath