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On Friday, March 21, Hema Kortgere defended her Master's Thesis entitled "Expression and Function of Bromodomain-containing Protein 1 (BRD1) in Epithelial Keratinocyts".  Her committee consisted of Dr. Richard Presland, chairman, and Drs. Beverly-Dale Crunk and Frank Roberts.  Afterwards, the Department of Oral Biology held a reception in her honor.  We were very happy to meet Hema's husband and daughter.  Congratulations to Hema - we wish her the best for her future research pursuits.

Dr. Thanaphum Osathanon, a Ph.D. student in Oral Biology, was recently selected to receive the 2008 Magnuson Award for the School of Dentistry.  The purpose of this program is to recognize graduate students with outstanding potential for research in the health sciences.  The Program began in 1993 and is funded from a $2 million endowment from the Warren G. Magnuson Institute for Biomedical Research and Health Professions Training.  Each of the six Health Science Schools was asked to nominate one student.  Dr. Osathanon joined the Oral Biology Department in 2005 and is pursuing a Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Cecilia Giachelli, a professor in the Department of Bioengineering.  Dr. Osathanon research involves fibrin-based scaffolds for mineralized tissue engineering.  Congratulations to Dr. Osathanon on receiving this prestigeous award. 

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The annual Oral Biology Holiday Party was held on Wednesday, December 12th.  Everyone enjoyed the wonderful potluck of tasty dishes brought in by the faculty, staff and students in the department.  Awards were given for the best salad/appetizer, main entree, and dessert and the awards (in the form of a gift of a bottle of wine) were given to Rosale Merialas for her tasty brocolli, cauliflower & celery salad, to Suzanne Jeffrey for her Swedish version of scalloped potatoes, and Dennis DiJulio for his heavenly Franco cheesecake.  Following the luncheon, a gift exchange game was played whereby one could either open a new gift or 'take' an already opened gift from another person.  There was the usual 'bantering' over some of the more popular gifts, but everyone left satisfied with their new possession.  We thank everyone who participated in making this a memorable holiday party.

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On Tuesday, November 6, the Department of Oral Biology held a "wine, cheese and hors d'oeuvres" reception to honor Dr. Beverly Dale-Crunk, who is retiring after 35 years of service to the University of Washington.  The event was held in the lobby of the South Campus Center and was very well attended by many of her past and present faculty and staff associates, post-docs and students.  Dr. Dale-Crunk has been a stellar leader in dental research and in training dental reseachers throughout her career.  The reception was highlighted by speeches by Drs. Ken Izutsu (who briefly described her long career), Murray Robinovitch (who talked about women scientists who have contributed to the research of the School of Dentistry) and Paul Robertson (who stressed her importance to the School of Dentistry.)  Two of her previous post-docs, Drs. Melanie Keuchle and Martine Michel Dunnwald, described (in wonderful chiming fashion!) how Dr. Dale-Crunk helped to develop their careers.  The Department then presented her with an inscribed rocking chair, which now has a prominent place in her living room.  However, we don't know how much use the chair will get as Dr. Dale-Crunk still plans to come to the University on a limited schedule.  And we know she will have plenty to keep her busy on her ranch in Eastern Washington!