Research Day 2026 celebrates outstanding academic achievement
April 2, 2026
VCU School of Dentistry held its annual Research Day on Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2. Students and residents shared their research projects during the Poster Session, browsed the vendor fair, and listened to keynote speakers. This year, Dr. Marlon Goad, President of the VDA, and Kristen Robbins, past president of the VDHA, shared remarks in the morning. In the afternoon, VCU SoD welcomed Dr. Purushothama Rao Tata, Ph.D., Director of the Duke University Regeneration Center.
Thank you to all who participated in this year’s Research Day, mentors, presenters, judges and attendees. Special thanks to the SRG, ASDA, Kathleen Lysek and Dung Pham for ensuring the success of the event.
Congratulations to all the award winners!
Undergraduate Research Award
Mohammed Abdulhadi
“The HPV16 E2 Protein Promotes Error-Prone DNA Repair Through Non-Homologous End Joining”
Mentor: Dr. Claire James
Graduate Research
First Place
Ron Hill
"Daraxonrasib (RMC-6236) is an effective targeted therapy for RAS-mutant neuroblastoma”
Mentor: Dr. Faber
2nd Place
Yanli Xing
“Ateganosine sensitizes anti-PD1 therapy across diverse HNSCC models”
Mentor Dr. Faber
George W. Burke Award
Maria Colon “Histone Deacetylase 6 Restrains Antitumor Immunity and Enhances Cancer Stemness in Oral Cancer”
Mentor: Dr. Huizhi Wang
Postdoctoral Award
First Place
Brittany T. Rupp
“A Deep Learning–Enabled Single-Cell Morpholomic Atlas of Nasal Swabs Distinguishes Chronic Inflammation from Sinonasal Malignancy”
Mentor: Dr. Byrd
Second Place
Sarita Giri
“Describing HPV16 E2 and E7 Interaction as a Regulatory Complex Influencing Host Gene Expression”
Mentor: Dr. Morgan
Dental Hygiene Award
Emily Carico and Sania Pullen
“Inhaling the Unknown: A Dental Hygiene Analysis of Vaping’s Impact on the Oral Microbiome and Periodontal Disease”
Dental Student Awards
1st Place
Jack Maschler
“Design and Force Analysis of Microperforated Orthodontic Aligners”
Mentor: Dr. Ergun
2nd Place
Maria Lawandi
“Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist drugs (GLP-1RAs) prevalence among Periodontitis patients—A retrospective study”
Mentor: Dr. Ghassib
3rd Place
Nir Diskin
“Development of a Predictive Machine Learning Model for Orthodontic Treatment Esthetic Outcome Assessment in Patients with Moderate Crowding: A Pilot Study
Mentor: Dr. Tufekci
Resident Awards
1st Place
Alexis Catalano
“Effect of Clear Aligner Attachment Size on Extrusion of Maxillary Lateral Incisors: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
Mentor: Dr. Philips
2nd Place
Anamika Khosla
“Patient-reported outcomes of donor site healing using different palatal protection techniques: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Mentor: Dr. Siqueira