The CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine will showcase a wide breadth of educational innovation, faculty development, clinical training and research at three major gatherings this March: the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session & Exhibition in Montréal, Québec, Canada; the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Craniofacial Morphogenesis and Tissue Regeneration in Ventura, California; and the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) General Session in San Diego, California.
Program Director for Faculty Development Jennipher Murphy, MS Ed, said, “The presence of our faculty and students at these conferences demonstrates the school's commitment to leading the future of dental medicine. Their work showcases not only scientific rigor, but also the passion our community brings to cultivating collaboration and building strong professional communities committed to advancing oral health.”
CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine at ADEA 2026
At the ADEA Annual Session, poster and oral session highlights include innovative uses of artificial intelligence to enhance trauma curriculum design and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) calibration; immersive virtual reality tools to improve dementia‑related care training; experiential learning models that strengthen faculty readiness for chairside technologies; and new communication frameworks supporting patient‑centered care.
- 1 – 3 p.m. Poster Session
- "A Pilot Curriculum in Facial Neuromodulators for Predoctoral Dental Students" presented by Riley Spillar, Matin Sanaei, William McMunn III, Jennipher Murphy, Micaela Gibbs, Emanouela Carlson
- “Bridging Dental Roles: Intraprofessional Learning Among Dentistry, Hygiene, and Assisting Students” presented by Jennipher Murphy, Lindsey Yates, Tamara Tobey, Laurice De la Rosa, Ashley Ridilla, Heidi Heath, Raquel Baroni de Carvalho
- “Cultivating the Coaching Mindset in Dental Education” presented by Zsuzsa Horvath, Jennipher Murphy, Alison Doubleday
- 1 – 3 p.m. TechExpo
- "Immersive Learning in Dentistry: Virtual Reality Dementia Simulation With Integrated Assessment and Debriefing” presented by Annetty Soto, Noorpreet Kaur
- 2 – 3 p.m. Education Session
- “Bridging Pathways, Advancing Access: AI Applications in Developing Trauma Curriculum for Dental and Allied Education” presented by Chaitanya Puranik, Shahbaz Katebzadeh, Paloma Reyes Nguyen
- 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Poster Session
- “Experiential Training Framework for Confident Chair‑side Clinical Tool Integration” presented by Jennipher Murphy, James Delapp
- 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Education Session
- “Reimagining Healthcare Communication Across Dental Education for Bridging Pathways, and Advancing Access” presented by Chaitanya Puranik, Shahbaz Katebzadeh, Paloma Reyes Nguyen
- 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Education Session
- “Bridging Technology and Clinical Education: Implementing AI‑Driven OSCEs in Dentistry” presented by Noorpreet Kaur, Abidin Hakan Tuncer, Annetty Soto
- 1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Education Session
- “Bridging Clinical to Simulated Competency Exams: Patient Assessment and Treatment Planning” presented by Ethelyn Thomason
- 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Education Session
- “Bridging Pathways and Advancing Access: An Introduction to ADEA for New Dental Educators” presented by Ethelyn Thomason, Erin Gross, Theodora Danciu, Eric Bernstein, Roopi Kulkarni
CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine at GRC 2026
At the Gordon Research Conference on Craniofacial Morphogenesis and Tissue Regeneration, our contributors will highlight advances in frontonasal neural crest cell patterning, RNA splicing mechanisms downstream of PDGFR signaling in facial mesenchyme, innovative genetic approaches to understanding clefting, and emerging in‑utero strategies for correcting craniofacial anomalies.
- 10:20 - 10:30 a.m. "The ALX Gene Family Confers Segmental Identity to Frontonasal Cranial Neural Crest Cells" presented by Jamie Nichols
- 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Discussion "Patterning the Craniofacial Complex II: Clefting" led by David Clouthier
- 10:05 - 10:15 a.m. "Alternative RNA Splicing of Transcripts Encoding Protein Serine/Threonine Kinases Downstream of PDGFR Signaling in the Facial Mesenchyme" presented by Cassandra Minne, PhD candidate in the Fantauzzo laboratory
- 9:05 - 9:15 p.m. "In Utero Rescue of Cleft Lip and Palate in a Humanized Mouse Model" presented by Hong Li
CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine at IADR 2026
At the IADR General Session, our researchers will present impactful studies examining post‑COVID periodontal care outcomes, improvements in predoctoral periodontal instrumentation education and precision antimicrobial materials capable of modulating the oral microbiome.
- 1:30 – 3 p.m. Oral Session: Antimicrobial Materials
- 2:15 – 2:30 p.m. “Smart, Antimicrobial Polymers can Modulate the Oral Microbiome” presented by Devatha Nair
- 3:45 – 5 p.m. Poster Session
- “COVID‑19 negatively impacted the periodontal maintenance regimen in dental school patients” presented by Karo Parsegian, T.C. Carter, N.A. Shimpi, Sangeetha Chandrasekaran
- “Student Perceptions of Elevating Periodontal Education with Enhanced Digital Media” presented by Amy DeStaffany, Manti Lehn, Karo Parsegian
Together, CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine’s contributions at the 2026 ADEA, GRC and IADR conferences underscore the school’s growing influence and ongoing dedication to collaboration, innovation and impactful scholarship across the dental education and research communities.
Session dates/times are subject to change; please refer to the conference websites for the most up-to-date information.
