Kristen Eguren selected as regional representative of the National Student Research Group
Kristen Eguren, doctor of dental medicine candidate 2018, has been selected as the regional representative for the Capital region of the National Student Research Group.
As an affiliate of the American Association for Dental Research (AARD), the National Student Research Group (NSRG) is a student led organization that fosters an environment of research in dental schools across the country. The NSRG is composed of self-governing local student research group (SRG) chapters at each dental school.
As the Capital region representative, Ms. Eguren will serve a one-year term to represent the student research group at ECU and at other dental schools in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Maryland.
She will attend regional events to promote membership in student research groups and in national and international dental research organizations. She will also attend professional research conferences to promote networking within the schools.
Ms. Eguren said, “This opportunity will help bring student research at the ECU School of Dental Medicine to a new level by allowing us to work with students and faculty from area or regional schools. I hope that our local students research group can be inspired to create new activities based on what other chapters are doing.”
Ms. Eguren, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, joined the School of Dental Medicine’s Summer Scholars program before taking her first class in dental school.
As a summer scholar, she participated in a study of the “Physical Activity During Pregnancy and Child Periodontal Health” with faculty mentors Dr. Linda May, assistant professor of anatomy, and Dr. Chris Cotterill, division director of pediatric dentistry.
She presented the research at the International Association of Dental Research annual conference in Boston, MA, in April. She will also present her work at an upcoming conference of the American Dental Association.
As an undergraduate at NC State University, Ms. Eguren’s research projects included the “Highly Active Modulators of Indole Signaling Alter Pathogenic Behaviors in Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Bacteria” the “Effectiveness of Student-Generated Videos as Teaching Tools for Basic Techniques in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory.”
Dr. Sharon Gordon, associate dean for research at the School of Dental Medicine and faculty advisor for ECU’s NSRG, said, “It is an honor that ECU is represented at both the student and faculty levels and that a local student research group officer has been selected from a brand new chapter. This speaks to the enthusiasm for research at the School of Dental Medicine.”
Construction will begin this summer on a 34,000 square foot research facility in Ross Hall, the dental school’s teaching and clinical hub at ECU in Greenville, N.C. Faculty and students leverage the school’s unique model of community-based learning centers across North Carolina to conduct multi-site data collection and research.