Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine (SDM) third year student Spencer Blackham has a passion for helping people, and a drive to advance the fields of dentistry and medicine through research.
Blackham’s research on bone defects, and evaluation of the biocompatibility of a new dental material using a calvarial defect model, has earned national recognition and the opportunity to share his work with an international audience.
In April, The Odontographic Society of Chicago presented Blackham with its Dr. Irwin B. Robinson Award for Student-Researcher Excellence. The student-researcher has also been awarded an American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Bloc Travel Grant to present his research at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) meeting in Seoul, South Korea in June.
“If we just do what we’ve always done, we’re not going to move forward,” Blackham said. “The opportunity to create something better is exciting. The curiosity that was in me at the beginning of my schooling has grown into passion.”
According to the project’s principal investigator Kevin Rowland, PhD and associate professor in the SDM, the data and outcomes from his and Blackham’s research may be used to improve bone healing that is necessary for a variety of dental procedures, including the placing of implants.
“Engagement in research exposes students to cutting-edge experiments, technologies and advancements that may become part of their routine clinical practice in the future,” Rowland said. “The payoff for students performing research has ancillary benefits as well. Research teaches students a more in-depth way of critical thinking that can be applied immediately in the classroom and in their studies.”
“I don’t think you can get this kind of quality student research experience at any other school, and still maintain involvement in your scholastic, clinical and extra-curricular responsibilities and activities,” said Blackham. “The SDM faculty have been instrumental in demonstrating how you set up a research project and assisting with the more political aspects of it, like gaining funding.
“It’s rewarding to see results, not just in awards, but people realizing that this project, these materials, can do so much more and provide something we didn’t previously have,” he added.
Blackham’s next goal is to achieve an orthodontic residency.
Photo: (L-R) The president of The Odontographic Society of Chicago (OSC) Paul Landman, SIU SDM third year student Spencer Blackham, and OSC secretary Daniel Berman celebrate Blackham’s award at the OSC banquet in Chicago.