NSU CDM Impressions Fall/Winter 2019

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 23 Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM). “The college has a reputation for combining research with its medical training,” she said. “When I become a physician, I want to understand the research behind my procedures, so I have a complete understanding of medicine.” When the 23-year-old learned about the opportunity in Kawai’s laboratory, she immedi- ately applied. “The experience working with Dr. Kawai will afford me a more well-rounded view of medicine,” she said. UNDERGRADUATE OPPORTUNITY Movila’s grant also is unique in its promise that NSU under- graduate students will have the opportunity to work in bio- medical research. Neira Algazzaz, a dual-admission student for dentistry, said working on the research projects as an underradu- ate is learning on a “laboratory technical skills postgraduate level.” Algazzaz, who is a junior studying biology with a minor in global engagement, will graduate a year early in May 2020 from NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. She then will enter the CDM. While she had always planned to pursue a D.M.D. degree, Algazzaz also wants to earn a Ph.D. in biological research. “I see myself as a dental scientist in the years to come with the skills I have learned from being guided by Dr. Movila, and from what I have learned in the laboratory,” said Algazzaz, who is part of the Razor’s Edge Global Scholars program. Also working in the lab with Movila is postdoctoral trainee Chiaki Yamada, who came to the CDM from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University in Osaka, Japan. Yamada is engaged in both NIH grant studies, along with a project about age-related peri- implantitis. “We are looking at the placement of the implant abutment as one of the patho- genic causes of peri-implantitis in those ages 65 and older,” Yamada said. The researcher has been work- ing with Movila on the study with funding from the NIH grant, which Movila brought with him in 2017 to the CDM. It was this work that Movila said led to the two new grants. “I hired the trainee for the small grant that I brought to NSU, then from that, we developed some new data. That work is what helped get these two new grants,” Movila added. The research is another achievement that is increas- ing the CDM’s profile. “Drs. Kawai and Movila achieved a unique and pro- gressive series of discoveries that rapidly made them one of the CDM’s main strengths. Their collabora- tion and expertise have resulted in noticeable success that makes us proud,” said Sibel A. Antonson, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.B.A., assistant dean for research at the College of Dental Medicine. “Their additional initiative to continue this momentum by way of training, developing, and investing in the next gen- eration of scientists certainly is inspiring and worthy of commendation,” Antonson added. “With their expertise, hard work, and creativity, the College of Dental Medicine is poised to develop the next Center of Excellence in Cranio- facial Osteoimmunology.” u “ The college has a reputation for combining research with its medical training. When I become a physician, I want to understand the research behind my procedures, so I have a complete understanding of medicine.” —ROODELYNE PIERRELUS + Opposite page: The research by Toshihisa Kawai and Alexandru Movila provides opportunities for students from multiple NSU colleges and disciplines, including (from top left to top right): Niera Algazzaz, a dual-admission student studying biology at NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography with plans to enter NSU’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM); Roodelyn Pierrelus, a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience graduate from NSU’s College of Psychology with plans to attend NSU-KPCOM; Chiaki Yamada and Keisuke Okubo, both postdoctoral students from Japan studying at NSU’s CDM; and Anny Ho, a research technician who will be starting a master’s degree program during spring 2020 at NSU’s Halmos College.