Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Health Awardees 2007
Pre-Professional Awardee: Shannitta Bridgers
Shannitta Latrease Bridgers began her dental education at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in 2004. She is an active member of the Student National Dental Association, where she serves as vice-president, American Student Dental Association, UNC-Student Research Group, American Dental Education Association, and the Hispanic Dental Association. She has also been active with the American Medical Students Association by organizing National Primary Care Week which is an interdisciplinary program educating future health professionals on how to eliminate health disparities facing our nation.
She is currently conducting public health research examining underserved populations and she has chosen to specifically examine oral health and pregnancy and problems with access to dental care. Shannitta has also been involved with increasing minority representation within the dental profession by co-chairing the UNC Impressions Program for three years. She looks for every opportunity to make the most of her education and to help potential dental students understand the responsibilities and joys that go along with a dental school education.
Upon completion of the DDS program, Shannitta plans to pursue graduate education in pediatric dentistry.
Pre-Professional Awardee: Philip K. Josephs
Philip K. Josephs, a student at Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine and the Mailman School of Public Health, is a leader of various student organizations at both the local and the national level. His leadership and scholarship has been recognized with awards by a variety of organizations including the National Hispanic Health Foundation’s Scholarship, the National Dental Association Foundation’s Scholarship, the American Dental Education Association’s Listerine Preventive Dentistry Scholarship, the Mailman School of Public Health’s Dannheiser Scholarship and others.
During this past academic year Philip was President of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA). He is also an elected member of the American Student Dental Education Association. Philip is the founder and director of Columbia University’s Symposium in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; a directed effort to recruit undergraduate minority students into the dental profession.
Post-Professional Awardee: Nadine Braunstein
Nadine Braunstein, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, is a registered dietitian and a PhD Candidate in the Medical Nutrition Sciences Program at Boston University School of Medicine. She is a past president of The Massachusetts Dietetic Association and recipient of their Distinguished Massachusetts Dietitian of the Year Award. Nadine is an American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellow for the 2007-8 academic year. Her dissertation research is the first to examine the associations of food security and diet quality with caries prevalence and severity in children. Nadine presented a poster, “Household food security and diet quality are associated with early childhood caries prevalence” at the APHA 2007 Annual Meeting.
Upon graduation, Nadine hopes to secure an academic position in a university where she can teach and continue her research on nutrition and oral health.