2026 Publications, Grants and Awards

Scholarship at the CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine reflects the collective contributions of our faculty, staff, residents and students. Through research, clinical innovation, educational inquiry and community-focused studies, members of our school are advancing knowledge and helping shape the future of oral health care. Explore recent publications, grants and awards that highlight the depth and impact of scholarly activity across our community. 

Q1 Publications 

• bioRxiv, Jan 2026: YAP/TEAD drives treatment-induced adaptive immunosuppression in EGFR-mutant lung cancer (Honkanen M, Baumgarten J, Dibus N, Rannikko JH, Gojkovic M, Ortutay Z, Merilahti J, Tienhaara M, Farahani I, Boettcher S, Kauko O, Nemenoff R, Heasley LE, Haikala HM, Hollmén M, Kurppa KJ)
  

• Dental Materials, Jan 2026: Reducing Biofilms in the Oral Microbiome (Nair D, Schurr M, Escobedo H, Puranik CP, Danforth D, Stansbury J)
  

• International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, Jan 2026: A Decade-Long Follow-Up of Supernumerary Tooth Leading Up to Cemental Tear: A Pediatric Case Report (Puranik CP, Katebzadeh S, Reyes‐Nguyen P, Flaitz C) 
  

• Journal of Periodontology, Jan 2026: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions in periodontal maintenance on periodontal health (Chandrasekaran S, Shimpi N, Carter TC, Becker P, Parsegian K)

• Pediatric Dentistry, Jan 2026: Association of Bifid Mandibular Canal With Developmental Dental Anomalies and Pathologies in Children: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study (Puranik CP, Hoang M, Paoli F, Gholizadeh S, Bothwell S, Pickett-Nairne K, Katebzadeh S, Flaitz C) 

• Biological Research, Feb 2026: The polyamine inhibitor SAM486A increases the efficacy of adagrasib in non-small cell lung cancer cells harboring KRASG12C mutation (Martin-Martin A, Chipón C, Guzman-Kunstmann C, Guzman-Kunstmann S, Buelvas N, Henríquez C, Vidal F, Villarroel-Espindola F, Hinz TK, Heasley LE) 

• Journal of Periodontology, Feb 2026: Age and sex affect the prevalence and severity of periodontal conditions in an academic setting (Parsegian K, Soldatos N, Carter TC, Angelov N, Shimpi N, Kookal KK, Okano DK, Ioannidou E) 
  

• Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Feb 2026: Assessment of Oral Health Practices for Patients Receiving Stem Cell Transplantation at Pediatric Oncology Centers (Ellifson GK, Dandoy CE, Fabrizio VA, Kapadia M, Lehmann LE, Olson KE, Puranik CP, Treister N, Thikkurissy S, Chin K) 

• Comprehensive Physiology, March 2026: Adventitial Niches, Complement and Inflammation in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: Current Status and Future Directions (Zhang H, Prasad RR, Kumar S, Li M, Jones D, Hu CJ, Mickael C, Yu YR, Tuder RM, Stenmark KR) 
  

• Differentiation, March 2026: Roles of the RNA-binding protein SRSF3 in development and cellular differentiation​​​​​​​ (Brooks E, Griffin C, Fantauzzo K) 

• Therapeutic Delivery, March 2026: Nanogels for the targeted delivery of antibiotic and antimicrobial drugs (Escobedo HD, Schurr MJ, Nair DP) 
  

Q2 Publications

• Dental Traumatology, April 2026: Cemental Tears in Pediatric Patients Secondary to Traumatic Dental Injuries: A Report of Two Cases (Puranik CP, Katebzadeh S, Reyes‐Nguyen P, Flaitz C) 
  

• Developmental Dynamics, April 2026: Early ultraviolet exposure disrupts late dorsal fin skeletal development in zebrafish (Keating MK, Jaime J, Mumme-Monheit A, Neukirch L, Gustafson G, Bailon-Zambrano R, Rice M, Gagnon J, Nichols J) 
  

• Journal of Dental Education, April 2026: The Healthy Lungs, Healthy Smiles Initiative in Pediatric Dental Education (Katebzadeh S, Lublin K, Chin K, Puranik CP)

• The Articulate Dentist, Metropolitan Denver Dental Society, April 2026: Cultivating the Future of Dentistry: Evolution of Dental Education (Mediavilla, E).

• Journal of Periodontology, May 2026 print edition feature: Cost-effectiveness and long-term outcomes of periodontal regeneration versus dental implants: A retrospective study (Amrou Y, Alrmali A, Almashni H, Galindo-Fernandez P, Wang H, Saleh M) 

• Journal of the American Dental Association, May 2026: Microplastics and Oral Health (Nair D, Dye B) 

• Cancer Letters, June 2026: Modeling acquired TKI resistance and effective combination therapeutic strategies in murine RET+ lung adenocarcinoma (Hinz TK, Le AT, Doan T, Ast A, Jaramillo S, Avila JT, Skhisov D, Haines S, Navarro A, Patil T, Nemenoff RA, Heasley LE)

• Clinical Lung Cancer, June 2026: High Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression is Associated With a Shorter Progression Free Survival in ALK-Rearranged Lung Cancer Patients Treated With First Line Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (Nie Y, Staley A, Hinz T, Perez-Johnston R, Merrick D, Yang M, Davies K, Bunn P, Aisner D, Camidge D, Schenk E, Heasley L, Patil T) 

• Journal of Dental Education, June 2026: Evaluating Student Communication Skills in a Simulation Setting: A Trends Analysis (Tiwari T, Nowak H, Russell T, Albino A, Rivera W, Tobey T, Dye B)

• Nature Communications, June 2026: The alx gene family confers segmental identity to frontonasal cranial neural crest cells (Mumme-Monheit A, Mitchell JM, Bailon-Zambrano R, Wright N, Neukirch LA, Keating MK, Hopkins CA, Riemondy K, Gustafson GE, Moss ND, Medeiros DM, Nichols JT) 

• Periodontology 2000, June 2026: Improving periodontal regeneration outcomes with hyaluronic acid: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Alrmali A, Butt Q, Kassar R, Hazrati P, Amrou Y, Sculean A, Wang H)

• PLOS Genetics, June 2026: RNA Polymerase III subunit Polr3a is required for craniofacial cartilage and bone development in zebrafish (Lubash B, Gutierrez R, Hansen N, Fink K, Hopkins C, Sands L, Nelson J, Watt K)
  

Q3 Publications

• Dental Materials, July 2026: Analysis of the effect of thickness and irradiance on polymerization delay and initial rate in light-cured resin filling materials (Darvell BW, Gareau A, Labrie D, Price RB, Stansbury JW) 

• Dental Traumatology, July 2026: Comparative Efficacy of Trained Versus Untrained Generative Artificial Intelligence Platforms in Providing Case-Based Multiple-Choice Questions on Traumatic Dental Injuries in the Pediatric Dentistry Curriculum: A Cross-Sectional Study (Puranik CP, Turley J, Pickett‐Nairne K, Katebzadeh S)
  

• Cancer Immunology Research, Aug 2026: EphA4 Mediates Pro- and Antitumoral Effects Through Upstream Negative Regulation of AKT in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Corbo S, Abdelazeem KN, Nguyen D, Bhatia S, Van Court B, Olimpo NA, Gadwa J, Hodgson CA, Beynor JI, Samedi VG, Sanz-Garcia E, Siu LL, Saviola AJ, Heasley LE, Pasquale EB, Knitz MW, Karam SD) 
  

   

Grants 

• ​​​​​​​Associate Professor Katherine Fantauzzo, PhD, received a 5-year, $2.5M NIH/NIDCR grant for her project, "PDGFR dimer-specific dynamics in the craniofacial mesenchyme," studying molecular signaling pathways that guide craniofacial development. Specifically, the grant funds the use of new tools, including mouse models, to track cell surface receptor dimerization and trafficking—work that is only being done in the Fantauzzo Laboratory, and could advance understanding of congenital facial differences.

• Margaret Keating, graduate student in the Nichols Laboratory, received a 3-year, F31 fellowship of $127,086 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for her project, "Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research". Using a zebrafish model, this project explores developmental pathways that may contribute to limb differences in humans. The research aims to uncover novel mechanisms that could help explain cases for which a genetic cause has not yet been identified. 

• Cassandra Minne, graduate student in the Fantauzzo Laboratory, received a 3-year F31 fellowship from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for her project, "Alternative RNA splicing of Rps6ka3 downstream of PDGFR signaling in the facial mesenchyme”. This research of the fellowship aims to provide significant insight into gene expression regulation during mammalian craniofacial development and potentially new therapeutic directions for the treatment of human palatal defects. 

• Abigail Mumme-Monheit, graduate student in the Nichols Laboratory, received a F99 fellowship of $44,344 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for her project, "Mechanisms of Incomplete Penetrance". This fellowship supports research into why some individuals remain healthy despite carrying disease-causing genetic mutations. By uncovering the biological mechanisms that contribute to this resilience, the work aims to identify new pathways for developing treatments for genetic disorders. Following the F99 phase and having received her PhD, she will transition to the K00 phase and receive an additional three years of grant support for her postdoctoral training and career development. 

• Associate Professor Annetty Soto, DMD, FAGSD, FACD, was awarded a $5,000 NICHE-Dental Institutional Heroes grant from the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD). The award funds a pilot project entitled "Virtual Tranquility: Virtual Reality for Emotional Wellness in Geriatric and Special Needs Populations." The project purpose is to provide effective immersive experience to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients.

Awards 

• Fantauzzo Laboratory graduate student Charles Griffin received the 2026-2027 ARCS Scholar Award through the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation, which will support his research exploring gene expression regulation during mammalian craniofacial development.

• Assistant Professor in the Department of Craniofacial, Oral and Materials Sciences Kristin Watt, PhD, received the H.W. Mossman Award in Developmental Biology from the American Association for Anatomy. She said, "I am thankful for all who have supported my career and look forward to more exciting work to come from the lab!"

• Lindsey Yates, DDS, associate professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry, was honored with the "Outstanding Contributions to Interprofessional Education" Award, presented on March 4, 2026, at the CU Anschutz Health Sciences Building. Dr. Yates has been a faculty member within the IPE curriculum since 2016 and her work has been presented nationally and internationally many times over the last decade. University of Colorado's IPE curriculum enrolls nearly 750 students per year (from the School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, Physician Assistant Program, and Physical Therapy Program) from the Anschutz campus as well as other campuses. Dr. Yates is currently serving as assistant director of the CU Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education.