One Final Send-Off

This content appears in the UCLA School of Dentistry's spring 2025 magazine. Click here for all magazine content.

Russell E. Christensen, D.D.S., M.S. 48 Years of Service
Associate Professor Dr. Russell E. Christensen served as chair of the Section of Oral Pathology for over 30 years, developing a globally recognized practice while providing expertise in the field to national and international dentists through the School’s Oral Pathology Lab. He published over 70 papers in his career. The years leading daily active learning sessions marked Dr. Christensen’s favorite teaching accomplishment; students who participated in those small groups over 20 sessions – some far more frequently – became outstanding clinicians in differential diagnosis. Attending doctors in residency programs often said that UCLA graduates were the best prepared in oral pathology. The basis for his teaching came from two mentors at the University of Virginia, Dr. Elzay and Dr. Debiaggio, who required all clinical faculty to grade students’ thorough findings at every chairside visit. “Dr. C.” misses interactions with students and wishes all of them success as practitioners.    

Cun-Yu Wang, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Dr. Cun-Yu Wang retired in October 2024 as chair of the Division of Oral and Systemic Health Sciences and holder of the the No-Hee Park Endowed Chair in Dentistry. Serving on the UCLA School of Dentistry’s faculty since 2007, he also held an appointment in bioengineering at the Samueli School of Engineering. Dr. Wang's research focused on molecular signaling pathways in cancer biology, stem cell regulation, and inflammation. His groundbreaking discovery of NF-κB's role in regulating cancer cell death was recognized as one of the top-10 scientific breakthroughs of 1996 by Science magazine. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals such as Cell, Nature Medicine, and Cancer Cell. Dr. Wang has received numerous accolades, including the NIH MERIT Award and the AADOCR Irwin D. Mandel Distinguished Mentoring Award in 2023. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2011 and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2013.

Staff:

• Sylvia Aquino | 20 years | Registered Dental Assistant, Center for Esthetic Dentistry
• Lorena De La Torre | 34 years | Registered Dental Assistant, Pediatric Dentistry
• Stacie McGovern | 16 years | Dental Assistant, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Pat Rowley | 15 years | Human Resources Analyst
• Elizabeth Wilcox | 17 years | Registered Dental Assistant, Center for Esthetic Dentistry