Jason Zimmerman - Schulich Dentistry Researcher on the Rise

"Finding out I got into Schulich Dentistry was a moment that I will remember forever." Now in his third year at the School, Jason Zimmerman has already fulfilled a few of his dreams and making sure he takes advantage of all the incredible opportunities the Schulich Dentistry program has to offer.

Zimmerman knew that Schulich Dentistry would be part of his future from the time he began his undergraduate degree at Western University. He recalls touring campus during orientation week and being very impressed with the clinics during the tour of dental buildings. "After getting the tour," he said "I knew what my goal was for the next four years - getting into Schulich Dentistry." What followed were many long nights studying in Taylor Library. It all paid off.

Once settled into his studies, Zimmerman became intrigued with the dental research. Thanks to a gentle push from a few faculty members including Dr. Galil he pursued the idea further. The real inspiration however came from Dr. Siqueira who presented a seminar about the summer research program. Zimmerman was hooked.

This past year, he received the Canadian Dental Association/Dentsply Travel Award. The topic of his poster was the proteome and peptidome of human acquired enamel pellicle on deciduous teeth. His study looks at bacteria that cause caries binds to a layer on the enamel surface called the acquired enamel pellicle - in vivo. Zimmerman is excited by the study results and how it can help manage the child patient population.

He is extremely grateful to all his supervisors and lab mates including the ever supportive Dr. Kofman who acted as his co-supervisor. "I couldn't ask for better supervisors and I am so lucky that I had the opportunity to work in Dr. Siqueira's lab. He is brilliant and so much fun to work with."

Zimmerman will now be representing Schulich Dentistry in the Student Clinician Competition at the 2013 CDA Annual Meeting in May. For him, this is just another great experience as part of his journey. "Any event where I get to meet dental students from schools across the country is always exciting to me, and I am really looking forward to competing for our school."

Preparing to pass the research torch along and engage his peers, Zimmerman became involved with the Western Dentistry Student Research Group (WDSRG). This group was created to provide students with a forum to study and discuss papers relevant to dentistry, while learning how to appropriately analyze papers and studies. The WDSRG picks areas of dentistry that are of interest, finds papers on these topics and discusses them as a group and with professors who are experts in these areas. Dr. Siqueira came up with the idea for the group and acts as the chief mentor.

When he is not in the class, clinic or lab you can find Zimmerman at the hockey rink. He is a proud member of the Mighty Dents - the School's hockey team.

The future looks bright for Zimmerman. He is hoping to have his study published, and once graduated, begin a dental practice. Research will be an important part of his future and he is already looking into specialty program that would allow him to continue work in the lab.