Dentistry News

Ideas moved from scientific posters to conversation throughout the UAB School of Dentistry’s 21st annual Scholars Symposium, where students, residents, and faculty gathered to explore the science shaping oral health care.

Throughout the afternoon, student researchers presented projects spanning the biological, clinical, and translational sciences. One of the largest-ever poster sessions created space for questions, discussion, and mentorship as students walked colleagues and faculty through their work — often explaining complex ideas that began months or years earlier in a lab, clinic, or research collaboration.

“The symposium is really important to me because I am a basic sciences researcher, but I'm connecting something very clinical and something very basic sciences together. It's very important for me to be able to communicate my research to the dental students and who may not be familiar with what I'm doing in the lab.” – Chloe La Prairie, third year PhD student and DART trainee

This year’s symposium focused on craniofacial pain, an area where fundamental biological discovery and patient care meet. The theme highlighted how understanding the mechanisms of pain and sensory disorders can lead to more effective treatments for patients.

For many students, the symposium marks an early experience presenting scientific work to a professional audience. Explaining research, answering questions, and hearing new perspectives are part of the process that moves ideas forward, from curiosity to evidence and eventually into clinical care.

“Scholar Symposium is an exciting event for the School of Dentistry. It gives dental students a chance to highlight all of our research throughout the years. It gives us an opportunity to look into things that we might not have looked at and learned about.” – Anna McAllister, fourth year dental student

UAB dental students have built a strong national presence in dental research, particularly through leadership in the Student Research Group (SRG) and presentations at national scientific meetings. That momentum was visible throughout the symposium as students shared findings and engaged in conversations about the future of dental science.

The program concluded with recognition of outstanding research and presentations.

Behind every poster and presentation is a question still unfolding. For the students presenting this year, the symposium marked one moment in that process — sharing ideas, testing assumptions, and contributing to the scientific conversations that ultimately shape patient care.

AWARDS

Predoctoral Basic Sciences

1^st place: Kristina Valladares

2^nd place: Lucas Costa

3^rd place (Tie): Kayla McCullough, Caris Smith*

Predoctoral Clinical Sciences

1^st place: Kirav Patel and Cale Kreger

2^nd place: Erick Molina and Alesia Shaaban

3^rd place: Carter Cooper*

Postdoctoral Basic Sciences

1^st place: Eungyung Kim

2^nd place: Muhammed Shahid Riaz

3^rd place: Mahfujul Khan

Postdoctoral Clinical Sciences

1^st place: Ezza Abdullah

2^nd place: Pouya Sabanik

3^rd place: Ting-Chia Liu

Predoctoral Scholarly Activity

1^st place: Anna Williard and Peyton Billingsley 

2^nd place: Michelle Blake

3^rd place: Ahmad El Estwani and Holmes Gailano

Postdoctoral Scholarly Activity

1^st place: Stephanie Sawyer

Special Awards*

Caris Smith awarded the SCADA Award sponsored by Dentsply Sirona

Carter Cooper will represent UAB at the 2026 Hinman Student Research Symposium held in October in Memphis