Blumenshine Receives National Research Fellowship
Dr. Stephanie Blumenshine, a second-year resident in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry’s Department of Pediatric Dentistry, has been awarded one of three 2008-09 3M ESPE Preventative Pediatric Dentistry Postdoctoral Research Fellowships.
The yearlong fellowship includes a stipend supplement, research support and a travel grant to present her findings at the 2009 American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Annual Session, to be held May 23 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Blumenshine’s research project, titled “The Impact of Poor Oral Health on School Performance in North Carolina Children,” builds on previous research that she pursued for her senior honor’s project as a dental student.
Dr. William F. Vann Jr., the Demeritt distinguished professor of pediatric dentistry, is Blumenshine’s research adviser. Collaborators include Dr. Jessica Lee, associate professor of pediatric dentistry; Dr. Jonathan Kotch, a pediatrician and professor of maternal and child health in the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health; and Dr. Bhavna Pahel, a health policy analyst and fellow at the University’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
The national fellowship, established in 1999, is sponsored by 3M ESPE and Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children, which is the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s foundation.
