Reflections on 2024
OHSU School of Dentistry Dean Ron Sakaguchi reflects on 2024
As I think back on the year, I am grateful for your dedication to our mission, students, residents, patients and each other. Your work, patience and persistence this year helped us achieve our goals and objectives. The School of Dentistry is a special place. I am in awe of what we accomplished together. I appreciate you!
We will continue in 2025 to emphasize innovation, wellness, equity and community service. Together, we will guide our learners to provide compassionate and exceptional oral health care; promote research productivity to remain near the top in the nation; care for our community with grace and humility; and continue to develop a workplace climate of kindness, respect and clear communication. I am excited and honored to work with each of you.
As you pause to think about the achievements we had this year, take a moment to celebrate the tremendous difference you’ve made for our patients, students, employees, donors, alumni and friends.
This is all a result of your collective contributions and hard work. Thank you.
Some of our significant achievements included:
- celebrating 10 years since the opening of the Skourtes Tower and Robertson Life Sciences Building
- completing the Commission on Dental Accreditation, or CODA, site visits for our DMD program and advanced education programs in Endodontics, Orthodontics and Periodontics
- preparing the graduating class of 2024 to pass their dental boards and licensing exams on their first attempt
- awarding 84 degrees at the 2024 commencement—69 DMD and 15 advanced degrees
- recruiting and matriculating 73 members of the DMD class of 2028, with 59% being Oregonians, 59% identifying as female and having an average GPA of 3.7
- launching Dental Week to inspire high school students to consider dentistry, and Walk in Dental Oral Ways of Science, or WINDOWS, for high school research interns
- providing care for nearly 13,500 patients who made more than 62,000 visits
- securing over $6 million in NIH research funding; ranking 13th in NIH funding among dental schools in the U.S. and 11th in NIDCR funding in 2024
- presenting Dental and Oral Research Summers in Oregon, or DORS, for undergraduate research interns
- hosting Research Day and Innovation Day sparking innovation through two student hackathons
- administering over 2,000 COVID boosters and flu vaccines this fall by DMD students to OHSU employees and students
- taking part in several multicultural events, organized by the student group Voices for Inclusion, Belonging and Equity, or VIBE
- celebrating distinguished faculty award recipients
- volunteering at the Bridges Collaborative Dental Care Clinic, health equity events, dental missions outside of the U.S., health careers programs and pop-up dental clinics
- hosting faculty and students from Osaka Dental University
- publishing two editions of the School of Dentistry Anthology
Let us sustain our momentum of optimism, hope, gratitude, grace and community into the new year. I am immensely proud to work alongside each of you and our extended community of corporate partners, alumni and donors.
Dean Ron Sakaguchi, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., M.B.A.
