Paul Dado Kim Earns Third Place the ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Program
Paul Dado Kim (D 2018) participated in the ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Program at the 2015 American Dental Association (ADA) Annual Session which was held in Washington DC last weekend and won the 3rd place award in the basic science category. Kim’s study titled “TLR9-mediated inflammation triggers alveolar bone loss in experimental murine periodontitis” investigated the involvement of an innate immune sensor, TLR9, in the progression of periodontal disease utilizing a transgenic mouse model. The results of the study showed that mice lacking TLR9 was protected against alveolar bone loss thereby identifying a possible new therapeutic target for periodontitis. “I am really happy to be part of this project. Our findings will hopefully be translated to the clinics to improve treatment outcomes,” said Kim.
A total of 61 students from each dental school across the country competed in the 56th ADA/DENTSPLY Student Clinician Research Program. “It was a great honor to represent VCU and came back home with an award among so many outstanding projects from all the different institutions,” said Kim. “I also would like to thank my mentor, Dr. Esra Sahingur, and the entire research team for giving me the opportunity to work in this project and for their continuous support”.
The results of this award winning study was published in the journal Infection and Immunity last May; Kim, P. D., Xia-Juan, X., Crump, K. E., Abe, T., Hajishengallis, G. & Sahingur, S. E. (2015) Toll-Like Receptor 9-mediated inflammation triggers alveolar bone loss in experimental murine periodontitis. Infection and Immunity 2015; 83:2992-3002.
Congratulations to Paul Dado Kim!
