Virginia Commonwealth University Debuts Its Oral Research Ph.D.

1024px-VCU_Seal_sans_logotype.svgVirginia Commonwealth University, where both Doctors Sheila and Daniel Vacendak received their Doctorates of Dental Surgery, is blazing new trails in dental research and innovation. The School of Dentistry made an announcement last week that introduced their Doctor of Philosophy in Oral Health Research, a new program for Fall 2016 and the first of its kind in Virginia. This is great news, especially for us at Vacendak Dentistry, because we are passionate about the way the health of the mouth impacts the health of the whole person.

This program will focus on research of cancers, infections and genetic diseases of the head and neck and will include cross-disciplinary study in other schools at VCU (like the School of Medicine and School of Engineering).

According to David Sarrett, dean of the VCU School of Dentistry, “The importance of good oral health, and its relationship to overall human health, is well documented….The Ph.D. program in oral health research will emphasize these relationships in training future researchers, who will make discoveries and translate them to improved patient care by dentists and oral health care providers.”  Because we place such high value on oral cancer screenings, early treatment and whole-body health, we believe that this program will help revolutionize the field and make the way we do our jobs more effective.

Congratulations to the faculty and students at VCU who have constructed such a wonderful Ph.D. program and good luck to those pursuing the degree!