Inspire, Fall 2021, UIC College of Dentistry

Inspire

Building Resilience The College of Dentistry’s one-year-old Resilience Center supports mental health, equity, and community engagement for members of the UIC Dentistry community.

Spurred by the stress, uncertainty, and anxiety ignited by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the nation’s social justice reckoning, the UIC College of Dentistry launched the Resilience Center in summer 2020 to foster a college community that supports mental health, stimulates connections, and values diverse voices.

Helmed by Dr. Sheela Raja, a clinical psychologist who has spent the past 13 years teaching behavioral science at the College, the Resilience Center aims to help students navigate these tumultuous times and cultivate a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in their personal and professional lives.

Over its inaugural year, the Center has shared resources from books and TED Talks to mobile apps designed to boost physical and mental health, delivered programming around topics such as study skills and inclusion, and introduced members of the UIC Dentistry community to campusbased resources and events that strengthen mental health, champion equity, and encourage community engagement and public service.

In the coming months, Dr. Raja plans to unveil a Resilience Center student ambassador program with upwards of a dozen students trained to direct their peers to applicable on-campus resources. Dr. Raja also looks to hire an in-house social worker to support students who need individual counseling while simultaneously broadening education on important topics such as mindfulness, stress management, and healthy eating.

“We want to make sure we’re evolving to meet the needs of our students, faculty, and staff in ways that are relevant and accessible,” Dr. Raja says.

Shafak Yousifm, Advanced Standing Class of 2023 candidate, had this to add, “What we’re going through is difficult and it’s easy to be self-critical, to question yourself and wonder if you can keep forging ahead. For me, the Resilience Center has been a place to be heard as well as a source of encouragement and support.”

We’re responding to what’s happening in higher education and healthcare in general and creating a supportive climate for our College of Dentistry community, it’s work that aligns perfectly with our College’s mission to educate and serve a diverse population.

Dr. Sheela Raja

Dear Dean’s Council Members: There is an energy at the UIC College of Dentistry unlike anything else I have encountered throughout my seven years as Dean.

Faculty, staff, and students are walking the halls with added passion and purpose, genuinely happy to be face-to-face once again. Though masks cover their smiles, their enthusiasm is evident in their engagement. As the leader of the College, it’s an uplifting scene.

Recently, our College had its formal accreditation process site visit, the culmination of a threeyear introspective journey pushing us be a more responsive, modern institution. We developed new ways to improve education delivery and further ground our clinical education in deep scientific knowledge. We established new operational processes, including methods to inject extensive input from faculty and students into our strategic planning endeavors. We deployed more community service-learning sites and introduced the Resilience Center to support mental health, community engagement, and inclusivity efforts at the College.

Our progress, of course, extends far beyond those efforts.

We continue attracting new patients to the College. Our swelling patient roster – some 38,000 active patients, in fact – is enriching the student experience and strengthening our financial footing.

Clinical revenues helped us launch a capital replacement program to ensure our providers are never without the right tools and ignited $6.5 million in facilities improvements, including the recent replacement of the 4th floor Student Commons area.

Our evolution, you see, continues in earnest.

As we approach the end of the IGNITE Campaign, we thank all of you who believe in our mission.

Partners like you impact our College at every level, enlivening our ability to support students, pursue compelling research, serve our community, and recruit and retain highcaliber faculty. The recently endowed Dr. Robert G. Brunetti Professorship, for example, positioned us to land Dr. Rand Harlow (DDS, 1992) as our new Department Head of Restorative Dentistry, while the Dr. Amarjit S. Marwah, MS ’56, and Mrs. Kuljit K. Marwah Fellowship has empowered Dr. Adriana Semprum-Clavier to further modernize our academic environment.

With your support, our College is changing the future of oral health for the better.

My battery is energized by those around me.

Amazing!

Sincerely, Clark M. Stanford, DDS, PhD, MHA UIC Distinguished Professor and Dean

College researchers, meanwhile, continue to investigate fundamental problems in oral health, driving a 100 percent increase in NIH funding over the last four years. Such ambitious inquiry has spurred key research alliances with campus partners, including the creation of a patented food additive suppressing aerosol formation in clinical settings developed in collaboration with researchers from the UIC College of Engineering. © 2021 University of Illinois Chicago All Rights Reserved.

Alumni Supporting Faculty Throughout her 16-year run as a UIC College of Dentistry faculty member, Dr. Adriana SemprumClavier has maintained one clear, unrelenting mission: to become the best dental educator possible. A new faculty fellowship has added extra force to her spirited professional quest.

In fall 2019, Dr. SemprumClavier, a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry, was named the inaugural Dr. Amarjit S. Marwah, MS ’56, and Mrs. Kuljit K. Marwah Fellow. One of six endowed faculty positions created during the ongoing IGNITE Campaign, the Marwah Fellowship supports faculty excellence in the pursuit of student success and dynamic learning environments.

While Dr. Semprum-Clavier had initially planned to use the fellowship funding to hone her leadership skills as PrePatient Care Director for the College’s Advanced Standing DMD Program, COVID-19’s arrival highlighted the immediate need for technology that would allow College faculty to blend hands-on training with virtual education. Dr. Semprum-Clavier responded by investing in technology to produce recorded videos and facilitate enlivened virtual training, including installing monitors in one of the College’s pre-patient care rooms to broadcast clinical demonstrations to both inperson and remote students.

These investments have empowered Dr. SemprumClavier to trial novel teaching techniques and strategies that serve contemporary learners and foster a more modern and humanistic learning environment for UIC Dentistry students.

“Education evolves so quickly that we always want to be progressing,” said Dr. Semprum-Clavier, who provides pre-clinical training in operative dentistry and

cariology. “We have to be modernized in the way we teach because students are modernized in how they learn.”

Fueled by the Marwah Fellowship, Dr. Semprum-Clavier aims to continue advancing her student-centered focus to dental education and pursue leadership courses that will elevate her communication with students as well as her curriculum planning and schedule management duties.

I recognize and embrace the responsibility of delivering for our students and honoring the generosity of the Marwahs. I want to do more, evolve, and be open to trying new things that enhance our students’ learning environment and spark rich, positive learning experiences that propel their professional endeavors.

Dr. Adriana Semprum-Clavier

Called to Service JRCOSTEP opened my eyes to the significant needs different populations across the country have and that shifted my thinking.

It challenged me to identify areas where dentistry is limited and to actively consider how I can help fill those voids with the education and skills I have.

Moses Rasberry, fourth-year UIC dental student

When UIC dental student Moses Rasberry first learned of the U.S. Public Health Service Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training Extern Program (JRCOSTEP) through an email from Dr. Patrick Smith, an assistant professor in the College’s Division of Public Health Sciences, he was immediately intrigued. Mr. Rasberry, who holds a Master of Public Health degree, saw a compelling opportunity to gain valuable professional experience alongside other public health practitioners while serving a vulnerable U.S. population.

Mr. Rasberry, however, had no idea just how impactful the experience would be.

One of three U.S. dental students selected for the competitive externship, Mr. Rasberry spent 31 days last summer working alongside Indian Health Service officers in northern Minnesota. Mr.

Rasberry’s weekday dental tasks ranged from simple composites and extractions to dentures and partials as well as emergency care to members of the Red Lake, White Earth, and Leech Lake tribes.

Calling his time in Cass Lake, Minnesota, “a lifealtering experience,” the born-and-bred Chicagoan says he immersed himself in tribal culture and confronted biases and perceptions about people and their environments, which fueled a deeper sense of empathy and commitment to service.

Once convinced he would follow the rather traditional postdental school path – working as an associate, becoming a partner, and then owning a dental office – Mr. Rasberry is now contemplating public-sector work, including potential positions in federal prisons with the U.S. Public Health Service.

70% of Goal Reached! $30M

$37 MILLION COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY IGNITE GOAL BY 2022

$20M

OVER $26 MILLION RAISED AS OF DECEMBER 2021

$10M

Students, postgraduates, residents, researchers, faculty, staff, and patients are all inspired by your giving. The investments made by you and your fellow alumni and friends help us realize the College’s mission of Changing the Future of Oral Health.

If you have any questions related to the Dean’s Council and its benefits, or would like assistance in supporting the College, please contact: Steven A. George Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement steveg@uic.edu Bruno Mancari Director of Development bmancari@uic.edu Ana Lisa Hendricks Director of Donor Relations aogbac1@uic.edu

THANK YOU, DONORS! I am very honored to be a scholarship recipient. I immigrated from China after high school and learned to speak English while working in a biology research lab at UIC. This award has helped to relieve the stress of working part time during dental school and student loans. I was able to focus more on my studies. UIC has given me so many opportunities to explore the things that I love, especially dentistry. Thank you.

Yangbasai Dong, DMD Class of 2021