Kaiser named president of UTHSC-Houston

Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., new president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been appointed president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston by the UT System Board of Regents. He will succeed James T. Willerson, M.D., on Aug. 1.

Kaiser joined the Department of Surgery at Penn in 1991, becoming head of the department in 2001. Previously, he held faculty appointments in surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Cornell University Medical College. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry with highest honors and a medical degree from Tulane University. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Few people are as qualified as Dr. Kaiser is to run a high-quality health institution, and his credentials are beyond reproach," UT System Chancellor ad interim Dr. Kenneth I. Shine said. "A distinguished surgeon, teacher, administrator and fundraiser at one of the nation's oldest and prestigious medical schools, he has the breadth of experience, knowledge and wisdom necessary for meeting the range of challenges facing today's academic medical centers."

Kaiser will succeed Willerson, who announced last September his plans to step down as president of the institution. Willerson will become president of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, succeeding Denton Cooley, M.D.

UT Board of Regents okays DB Replacement Building design

The University of Texas Board of Regents has approved the design development for Phase I of the UT Dental Branch Replacement Building portion of the UT Research Park Complex project.

The $90 million building, to be finished in 2011, will be part of the 100-acre UT Research Park complex now under construction. In this new location, Houston's only dental school will be very close to several state-of-the-art research facilities, including UT's new Biomedical Research and Education Facility, a new Neuroscience Building, and the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research, due for completion later this year.

Executive Associate Dean John Valenza said the building project will be done in two phases, with Phase I used for classrooms, an auditorium, administrative offices and other non-clinical areas. Phase II will provide space for clinics, laboratories and research facilities. The entire building will have about 344,000 sq. ft. of space. Surface parking is planned initially, with a parking garage to be constructed later.

When fully occupied, the new building will allow the Dental Branch to increase both the number of students enrolled and the number of patients treated each year.

The UT Dental Van traveled to Tyler in April to participate in the Texas Mission of Mercy. Pictured (back row from left) are Jeff Harden, Martin Youngs, Colin Lathrop, Ryan Loveless, Jared Abramian, David Wilson, Patrick Beetar and Pat Henshaw. Front row from left are Helene Suh, Thanh Pham, Jihoon Rha, Marina Munoz, Cristina Moino and Maria Martinez.

UTDB Dental Van travels to Tyler for Texas Mission of Mercy

A team from the UT Dental Branch participated in the April 19 Texas Mission of Mercy in Tyler. The event is sponsored by the Texas Dental Association as a way to bring free dental care to patients who cannot afford it otherwise.

UTDB Van Director Tracey Godwin, D.D.S., said her team saw 65 patients and did 25 prophylactic treatments, 55 restorations, 160 extractions and five flipper deliveries. Other UT participants included Jennine Huet, D.D.S. (and her daughter and son), UT staff members Maria Martinez, Pat Henshaw and Marina Munoz, and dental students Cristina Moino, Jennifer Molandes, Ryan Loveless, Jeff Harden, Colin Lathrop, Martin Youngs, Jihoon Rha, Thanh Pham, Helene Suh, Jared Abramian, David Wilson, Patrick Beetar and Chad Silvertooth. Dental hygiene students who participated included Chriszelda Rojas, Karen Wen, Morgan Harris, Jessica Cabral. Melissa Lent helped organize volunteers.

Dental Hygiene Awards Banquet

The UT Dental Branch School of Dental Hygiene held its annual awards banquet May 9 at Trevisio. Nine students received awards, and four others (left) were inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Phi Alpha Honor Society. Pictured from left are Associate Professor Donna Warren-Morris, R.D.H., and students Jan Weerachartkul, Huong Nguyen, Amber Korenek and Carmen Diaz. View the complete list of award winners and other photos from the event..

Retired prosthodontist Thomas L. Hurst, D.D.S., of Pearland is Supreme Worthy Master of Delta Sigma Delta.

Houston-area prosthodontist
an officer in Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity

Thomas L. Hurst, D.D.S., of Pearland has been elected Supreme Worthy Master (vice president) of Delta Sigma Delta International Dental Fraternity. Delta Sigma Delta is an international, co-ed, professional dental fraternity founded in 1897.

Hurst is a retired prosthodontist whose career included more than 30 years with the U.S. Navy, followed by nearly 23 years at the UT Dental Branch in Houston, where he was a tenured associate professor and former chair of the Department of Prosthodontics. From 1987 to 1995, he directed the graduate prosthodontics program at UTDB. A former scuba diver himself, Hurst invented the "scuba diver's denture," a device that allows denture-wearers to bite on a regulator or snorkel comfortably, freeing up the hand that would otherwise have to hold the breathing devices in place.

Before his teaching career -- which he describes as "just plain fun" -- Hurst traveled the world aboard an aircraft carrier and destroyer tenders in the U.S.Navy Dental Corps. His assignments ranged from Alaska to Puerto Rico to the Mediterranean, with many points in between. He retired as a captain in 1984 with a lifetime of memories and plenty of stories to tell. "I had a wonderful time," he says of his Navy years.

Twenty years ago, Hurst helped establish the East Texas Graduate Chapter of Delta Sigma Delta in Houston. The members of this chapter are dentists who are either life members of Delta Sigma Delta or outstanding dentists who have been invited to become members. The student Tau Tau Chapter is mentored by faculty member Gene C. Stevenson, D.D.S. As Supreme Worthy Master, Hurst has a goal of visiting every Delta Sigma Dental area regional meeting in the country to talk about leadership. That might seem like a lot of travel to some people, but not to someone who's already crisscrossed the globe. "(Delta Sigma Delta) is truly a wonderful organization," Hurst says.

For more information about Delta Sigma Delta, visit www.deltsig.org.