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Perfect Match
RSDM Match Rate Nearly 20 Percent Above National Numbers

Fourth-year student Onoyom Onyile
Students celebrated the milestone of Match Day last month at RSDM's annual ceremony, reflecting back on the lessons of dental school and looking forward to the future. Dean Cecile A. Feldman noted that RSDM's rate for students seeking a match was 87 percent, compared to the national match rate of 64 percent. "That's an incredible accomplishment," she said. "It speaks to the eagerness that exists for you to be taken into these programs. I know that dental school was tough, but it's been worth it."  LEARN MORE
New Appointment
Dr. Narayanan Ramasubbu Tapped as Head of Research

Dr. Narayanan Ramasubbu
Dr. Narayanan Ramasubbu has been appointed Associate Dean of Research, Dean Cecile A. Feldman announced. Dr. Ramasubbu, known as "Subbu,"  is a recognized authority in biofilm research who in 2018 received a $437,250 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how a bacterium that causes periodontal disease is able to survive in the body.  LEARN MORE
Making History
Faculty Explores Link Between WWI Facial Trauma and Modern Plastic Surgery

World War I plastic surgery patient
Dr. Shahid Aziz has spent hours poring over the case histories and letters of World War I soldiers who returned home with disfiguring facial injuries. "The world had never seen this type of injury on such a large scale,'' said Aziz, a professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, who treats many facial trauma patients.  The war wounds took a horrible social and psychological toll on veterans, but modern-day plastic surgery was born as a result. LEARN MORE
We Did It!
RSDM Surpasses $1 Million Scholarship Goal


Thanks to our donors, RSDM was able to create 17 new endowed student scholarships as part of our year-long  match campaign, which ended on 12/31/2019. RSDM's donations were matched by the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) Chancellor's Challenge. RSDM and the School of Nursing were joint recipients of the 2019 challenge, which offered matching funds for all dental and nursing scholarship support. This initiative engaged new and returning donors, and created new scholarships that will continue to support dental students in perpetuity.  Including donations and the Chancellor's match money, scholarship support for RSDM will total more than $1,500,000.  Dean Cecile A. Feldman expresses her sincere gratitude for donors' generous support.

 
Finding Support
State Officials Recognize Need for Special Care Dentistry

Dr. R. Glenn Rosivack, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Community Health, stands in front of RSDM's special needs clinic. 
Dean Cecile  A. Feldman is hopeful that permanent funding for RSDM's special care clinic will be approved this year.  A 2019 bill sponsored in the state assembly and legislature, which would have added $250,000 to the clinic for one year, received overwhelming bi-partisan support but was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy in December. Murphy suggested representatives seek approval through the regular budgeting process, which could potentially allocate funding on a permanent basis.  "I'm optimistic that this heightened awareness among the public and elected officials will result in much-needed support for our patients,'' said Dean Feldman.