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STUDENT RESEARCH Dental Students Publish First Issue of Student Research Journal The inaugural issue of the Annals of the Dental Research Academy, a dental journal of student research begun by five students at HSDM, has just been published. The students are the first graduating class of the HSDM Research Academy, now in its third year, and were selected by Dental School faculty based on their research potential. Zachary Peacock, Salim Afshar, and Kelly Morgan (left to right), along with Ketan Amin and Brad Williams developed the idea of a dental student research journal more than a year ago. The first issue has just been published. (Photo by Leah Gourley) The students, Salim Afshar, Ketan Amin, Kelly Morgan, Zachary Peacock, and Brad Williams, began brainstorming more than a year ago about how to publish a journal dedicated exclusively to student research. Once their plan was in place, they pitched their idea, complete with a mock-up of the journal, to HSDM dean Bruce Donoff. "I thought that it was a very exciting, innovative, and energetic idea and I told them that I would support it," Donoff said. "It is consistent with the ideals of the School and I am extremely pleased to see how rigorous, thoughtful, and successful their efforts have been. I think it's the beginning of something that will become enduring." To get the journal started, the students designed an abstract competition, which they sent to all the dental schools in the country. They received more than 30 papers, from which they chose three winners. Papers were judged on their research methods, written presentation, and relevance to dental research. "It's the only dental journal dedicated exclusively to student research," Afshar said, explaining that it is difficult for students to have their research published before they become postdoctoral fellows. "We hope to open communication nationally and internationally between dental students." In addition to the winning papers, the students included a case study from the HSDM clinic. The final product was published with seed money from the research academy, as well as advertising in the issue. Third-year students in the Dental Research Academy will take over the publication of the journal and produce another issue next year, said Peacock. --Leah Gourley