Residents
take academy’s top awards
by Kim Miller
Periodontology residents Drs. Yeritxa Viera and Shahin Madi won the two top awards at the Southern Academy of Periodontology’s recent annual Billy Pennel research competition.
Dr. Viera, a second-year graduate student and resident, won first place and $500 in the basic science category for research on how alendronate, an anti-cancer drug, helps integrate dental implants with bone in an animal model of postmenopausal women.
Implants, used to anchor a prosthesis such as a partial denture, must integrate into bone to ensure a firm hold. Alendronate appears to aid integration by inhibiting osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone, a finding that may have implications for osteoporosis.
“We’re trying to prove that patients with implants are going to fare better with this type of medication,” said Dr. Viera, who also is studying the drug’s occasional side effect of cutting off the blood supply a newly formed bone needs to survive.
The
second place award, a plaque and $250, went to Dr. Madi, a third-year
graduate student and resident, for research on why calcium channel blockers,
often prescribed to treat cardiovascular disease, cause excessive growth of
gum tissue.
Dr. James Borke, professor of oral biology and maxillofacial pathology in the Schools of Dentistry and Graduate Studies, serves as the major adviser for both residents. Dr. Madi also collaborates with Dr. Carol Lapp, an associate professor in the same department. Laboratory technicians Julia Winger and Bharati Bhatt also assist Drs. Viera and Madi.
Drs. Viera and Madi competed against students from top dental schools across the Southeast. As part of her prize, Dr. Viera presented a poster about her research at the academy’s 86th annual meeting June 22-25 in Naples, Fla.