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With a combined 82-year history at the School of Dentistry, you can imagine all of the challenges and changes seen by Dr. Carol Bibb and Ms. Francesca Moore over the decades. Two very different chance encounters led to their lifelong and fulfilling careers here in Westwood.

By Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications, UCLA International Institute

In honor of International Women’s Day 2022, the UCLA International Institute published a series of profiles of outstanding female Bruin students who will become tomorrow's leaders.

Dr. No-Hee Park, dean emeritus of the UCLA School of Dentistry and distinguished professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been given the Irwin D. Mandel Distinguished Mentoring Award by the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research.

A $1 million grant from Delta Dental of California will endow a new scholarship at the UCLA School of Dentistry.

The Delta Dental Scholarship for Opportunity will be awarded annually to students in UCLA’s four-year D.D.S. program who have demonstrated strong academic achievement in the face of adversity, and who have demonstrated an interest in working in underserved communities. The first scholarships will be awarded during the current academic year.

The UCLA School of Dentistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Sunil Kapila as Professor and Chair of Orthodontics, and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Operations starting January 1, 2022. Dr. Kapila brings an impressive list of accomplishments in teaching, scholarship, patient care, service, and academic leadership. He obtained his dental degree at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, an MS in orthodontics at the University of Oklahoma as a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, and a PhD in Oral Biology from UCSF.

Out of 300 global institutions ranked in the Dentistry & Oral Sciences category by The Shanghai Ranking, UCLA School of Dentistry has once again been named a top six institution for 2021. UCLA Dentistry has consistently been named in the top six globally on this list since its inception in 2017.

Ten active faculty members from the UCLA School of Dentistry were identified as Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in their world scientist rankings.They include Drs. David Wong, Cun-Yu Wang, Paul Krebsbach, Shane White, Kathryn Atchison, Francisco Ramos-Gomez, and Diana Messadi, as well as three faculty members from the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics and Weintraub Center: Drs. Ben Wu, Ichiro Nishimura, and Takahiro Ogawa.

Jordan Cheng, DMD, a graduate trainee in the Oral Biology Ph.D. program at the UCLA School of Dentistry, was recently awarded the National Cancer Institute’s Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00). The F99/K00 award is to support and retain outstanding graduate students recognized by their institutions for their high potential and strong interest in pursuing careers as independent cancer researchers. The award will facilitate the transition of trainees from their graduate training to postdoctoral appointments at high-impact cancer labs.

It’s not uncommon for patients with special needs, complex medical conditions, and physical or cognitive differences, to encounter challenges when seeking dental care. The Special Patient Care (SPC) clinic at the UCLA School of Dentistry – and its specialists trained in treating this vulnerable population – serve as a major safety net for special needs patients and their caretakers. For many of these patients, UCLA is the only option they have and those who live far away are willing to drive hundreds of miles to be seen.

Bruin Optimist with an appreciation for giving back

Dr. Hedi Kermani’s drive, paired with her entrepreneurial spirit, are the characteristics that have helped her build a successful orthodontics and pediatric dentistry practice in Orange County. From acquiring the latest technology and equipment down to choosing the colors for the interior, hiring top associates and even designing the website, she has dedicated her career for the past two decades to perfecting a practice that her patients can rely on for quality care.