The guest lecture followed by handoff workshop was a real success with 45 participants from across various colleges from Chennai. Dr.Anandan, from Madras University gave an insight on various aspects of PCR along with insight on its applications in dentistry.
Mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental pulp has the inherent capacity to differentiate into different cells types such as neural cells, osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes etc.,. In view of the above fact, the workshop on stem cell culture and characterization was initiated at BRULAC-DRC, Saveetha Dental College on the 15th of April 2019. The delegates and students were welcomed by Dr.M.Karthik Ganesh and Dr.J.Vijayashree. The workshop started with a brief introduction about the invited speaker Dr.S.Raghunandhakumar, UGC-Kothari Postdoctoral Fellow by Dr.D.Ezhilarasan. The presentation on “Mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp and their application” enlightened the students and other delegates about the potential use of MSCs in the field of dentistry. The speaker was felicitated by Dr.A.Paramasivam and Dr.A.Padmaraj.
The hands-on training started with processing of dental pulp which was demonstrated by Dr.A.Paramasivam and Dr.S.Raghunandhakumar. The students were asked to perform the procedure independently, following which they isolated RNA from the cells. The students and delegates were enthralled to visualize RNA on the agarose gel. The characterization of the stem cells was achieved by specific marker detection employing both reverse transcriptase and conventional PCR. The principle and methodology was explained to students and they were taught to set-up a PCR reaction and programming of the thermal cycler. Stem cell marker specific PCR returned a positive result which was shared to students after gel documentation. The workshop concluded with positive feedbacks from the delegates and students, which proved its success!
Mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental pulp has the inherent capacity to differentiate into different cells types such as neural cells, osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes etc.,. In view of the above fact, the workshop on stem cell culture and characterization was initiated at BRULAC-DRC, Saveetha Dental College on the 15th of April 2019. The delegates and students were welcomed by Dr.M.Karthik Ganesh and Dr.J.Vijayashree. The workshop started with a brief introduction about the invited speaker Dr.S.Raghunandhakumar, UGC-Kothari Postdoctoral Fellow by Dr.D.Ezhilarasan. The presentation on “Mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp and their application” enlightened the students and other delegates about the potential use of MSCs in the field of dentistry. The speaker was felicitated by Dr.A.Paramasivam and Dr.A.Padmaraj.
The hands-on training started with processing of dental pulp which was demonstrated by Dr.A.Paramasivam and Dr.S.Raghunandhakumar. The students were asked to perform the procedure independently, following which they isolated RNA from the cells. The students and delegates were enthralled to visualize RNA on the agarose gel. The characterization of the stem cells was achieved by specific marker detection employing both reverse transcriptase and conventional PCR. The principle and methodology was explained to students and they were taught to set-up a PCR reaction and programming of the thermal cycler. Stem cell marker specific PCR returned a positive result which was shared to students after gel documentation. The workshop concluded with positive feedbacks from the delegates and students, which proved its success!
The Department of Pharmacology organised a credit course on the topic Theranostic Drug Delivery System from 25th March to 29th March, in collaboration with University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. The CDE points for the over all course was approved to be 23 (TNDC approval No135/19).
Prof. Kylie Williams and Dr. Kamal Dua from UTS was invited as international speakers and Dr.Anitha Roy, Dr. Lakshmi.T, Dr.Ezhilarasan.D , Dr. Rajeshkumar.S, Mr.Lakshminarayanan.A from department of Pharmacology , Dr. Jaiganesh.R, Dr. Radhika, Dr.Arvina from department of Periodontics were the national speakers for the event . Participants from various colleges attended the credit course. On the 4th day an examination on grant proposal writing was conducted and best proposal was awarded with a certificate of appreciation.
As a continuation of the credit course the 5th day 29th March was addressed to be an International Symposium on the topic Current Concept in Drug Discovery. Prof. Kylie Williams and Dr. Kamal Dua from UTS was invited as international speakers and Dr. K SenthilKumaran and Dr.B. Premkumar as national speakers. Also an e-poster presentation completion was conducted and best poster was awarded with a certificate of appreciation.
The Department of Microbiology organized a “National Level Hands-on Workshop on Molecular Diagnosis of Antibiotic resistance in Oral Pathogens” in technical Collaboration With Biozone Research Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Chennai from 26th- 29th March 2019. The three-day workshop included wet-lab activities, lectures and group discussions. The work shop was well attended by thirty nine registered delegates including the undergraduate, post graduates and faculties.
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global public health threat. This workshop is an effort to equip researchers and dental practitioners with the recent advances in genomic analysis of antimicrobial resistance. This is an effort to evince the current scenario and method for analyzing beta lactamase gene, biofilm producing gene expressions and efflux pump gene expressions in oral bacteria by gene specific PCR and Real time PCR.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Thangam Menon, Retd. Professor of Microbiology, University of Madras, Chennai, and also delivered a lecture on “Prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the environment: the current scenario”. Hands on training was given on isolation, characterization and study of antibiotic susceptibility pattern of pathogens from clinical samples.
The second day of the workshop started with a brief lecture by Dr.Aneesh Nair, on the procedure involved in the extraction of genomic DNA and a note on the working principle of the equipment such as centrifuge, vortex, spectrophotometer etc., Pipette handling, loading the samples into the centrifuge, terms like RCF and RPM, preparation of agarose gel. Dr.Florida Tilton, interacted with the delegates about the DNA extraction procedure and also delivered a lecture on “Molecular methods for the detection of antimicrobial resistance among oral pathogens. Dr.Rex Arunraj delivered a lecture on “Polymerase chain reaction and its application in diagnosis”. His lecture emphasized the techniques on improving the sensitivity and specificity of PCR tool in diagnostic field.
On the third day of the workshop participants were trained to perform polymerase chain reaction using specific primers. The students processed their samples with the guidance and allowed to set-up program in the thermal cycler. The PCR products were visualized using an UV transilluminator and were documented in a gel documentation system.
Dr.Wilson Aruni, delivered a lecture on “Human oral microbiome and oral cancer”. The lecture was very informative and imparted several novel ideas in students. The valedictory note and vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. R.V.Geetha, where she thanked the entire team for the successful event
Department of Microbiology observed the World TB day on 24th of March 2019 at Saveetha Dental College and Hospital premises with the motto “Its time: End TB”. Faculties organized an awareness campaign towards the tuberculosis threat among the faculties, visiting patients, technical staff and class IV servants. Pamphlets creating awareness on TB prevention and transmission were distributed for the visiting patients. Banners and posters were displayed at various places in the college with the information about the motto for the year 2019, pathogenesis, treatment regimens, incidence rates and resistant scenario of TB.
Mesenchymal Stem Cell- Guest Lecture held on 6/6/2019. Lecture was delivered by Dr. Kalimuthu Senthil kumar, Scientist who had worked enormously on Mesenchymal Cells had narrated his experience on working on Mesenchymal Cells. He also enlisted the students on various application and the future scope of the research on the same. Dentistry being a field where mesenchymal cells are most promising area of research it helped our students to understand the path of research. Over 100 of them benefitted from this.
The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Saveetha Dental College conducted Guest lecture on “Forensic Odontology in a Nutshell” on 5th April 2019.
Forensic odontology is proper handling, examination, and evaluation of dental evidence, which will be presented in the interest of justice. As a sign of extending our student centric learning process the department had organised a Guest lecture on “Forensic Odontology, where all the basics of Forensic techniques in Human identification using dental evidences were explained and discussed in a nutshell with the II BDS Additional Batch students and MDS Oral pathology students. This Guest lecture was conducted especially as a part of Forensic odontology Module course for the II BDS Additional Batch students.
The resource person was Dr. A. Balamurugan, Tutor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research. Dr. Balamurugan is an eminent Forensic Odontologist who did Msc in Forensic odontology after graduation. He is well versed with all the Forensic Odontology techniques.
The session was conducted for 4 hours, with various small useful activities conducted in between the lectures. The main activities conducted were Various Age estimation methods, Bite mark identification, Cranio-morphological Gender Determination, Comparison of Antemortem and Postmortem Dental records, Cheiloscopy and Rugoscopy patterns. The event was extremely useful for the students as part of their curriculum.
The theme for this Edify session is based on “ACTIVITY BASED LEARNING”. Based on the theme, we the department of Physiology prepared 4 different best activities such as Gamification, Woolen thread model, Slime model, Paper craft. Dr. Deepak Sir appreciated paper craft model. After video showcase, link was shared to faculty members and we secured cumulative score of 8.86.
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics organized a guest lecture on “Itis and Osis in Endodontics ” on 26.3.19 presented by Dr. S.Aravind Warrier, Professor, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sri Ramachandra Dental College and Hospital, Chennai. Endodontists play major role in relieving the pain associated with tooth related conditions. This presentation addressed the clinical scenarios leading to diagnostic dilemmas for an endodontist. Further the discussion guided the post graduates to understand the clinical conditions appropriately for an optimal outcome.
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics organized a guest lecture on “Role of Platelet Rich Fibrin and its Biological Mediators in Dentistry” on 15.3.19 presented by Dr. K. Anil Kumar, Reader, Department of Periodontology, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College, Chennai. Research into regenerative dentistry has added impetus onto the field of molecular biology. It can be documented as a prototype shift in the therapeutic armamentarium for dental disease. Regenerative endodontic procedures are widely being added to the current armamentarium of pulp therapy procedures. The regenerative potential of platelets has been deliberated. A new family of platelet concentrates called the platelet rich fibrin (PRF) has been recently used by several investigators and has shown application in diverse disciplines of dentistry. This lecture deliberated on the various prospects of PRF, and its clinical and molecular insights to dentistry.
Department of Physiology conducted a CDE Programme on 30th March 2019 entitled as “It’s now or never” by Mrs. Navukkarasi from Annai Veilankanni College of Arts and Science and a certified soft skills trainer. She delivered motivational thoughts among the students on developing the soft skills and personal empowerment. Students were very interactive and the lecture came up with inspiring thoughts.
The New Cycle of Edify was started on 29th March 2019 and the presenting department was the Department of Anatomy.
Dr. M.Karthik Ganesh, Senior Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, addressed and greeted the gathering for the first session of the new cycle of Edify on behalf of the Faculty members of the Department. He explained about the new theme of this version of Edify which was on “Best Class Activity”. He also correlated the activity based learning with a saying “Listening is better than Learning, Observing is better than Listening, Doing is better than Observing”. Then the video was played for watching. The video demonstrated the Paper and Clay Modeling to be the best class activity of the Department. One of the toughest topics in Head & Neck Anatomy for BDS students is the Larynx. The video showed the class activity for Larynx using paper craft modeling, where the students actively involved in making the paper craft model of the various cartilages of Larynx. The video also described even a slow learner can understand a tough topic using such paper craft models.
After this, the clay modeling activity on the layers of Scalp was shown. This part of the video depicted the structural arrangement of the different layers of the scalp using various coloured origami papers and clay for each layer. A piece meal of the layers of scalp was made and it was explained by the students as a live discussion between individuals in a group of students. Finally the video concluded with the feedback from the students on the significance of class activity.
After the completion of the video, the Director of Academics, Dr. Deepak Nallaswamy commented that the video is good and suggested to have uniformity in the audio aspect of the video while editing. Then the link for Edify Scoring was sent to the gathered faculty members. Out of 101 responses the Department of Anatomy got 830 points. Then the Director congratulated the staffs of the Department on getting better score for their video.
Department of Physiology conducted a CDE Programme on 28th March 2019 entitled as “CIRCADIAN CLOCK- IMPACT AND OPPURTUNITIES IN CHRONOTHERAPEUTIC MEDICINE” by Dr. Sridevi from Sathyabama Dental College and Hospitals. She shared a wide knowledge on Chronotherapeutics and its impact on the Circadian Rhythm among the students. Students were very much enthusiastic and the lecture ended up with good interactive session.
Department of Physiology conducted a CDE Programme on 30th March 2019 entitled as “It’s now or never” by Mrs. Navukkarasi from Annai Veilankanni College of Arts and Science and a certified soft skills trainer. She delivered motivational thoughts among the students on developing the soft skills and personal empowerment. Students were very interactive and the lecture came up with inspiring thoughts.
This lecture was delivered by Dr. Reuben Joseph on 29 th march 2019. We live in the era where only evidence and proof speaks for itself. Documentation is the need of the hour. Documentation is helpful to show the patient the process of treatment and the outcome that can be achieved. A well documented procedure speaks volumes and conveys the process clearly to a layman. It is very useful for publication purposes. One can claim he/she is good and portray themselves only with the help of documentation.
Department of pharmacology has organized an International Symposium on current concepts in Drug Discovery on 29th March 2019, a total number 54 participants registered for the event from various institutions. Dr. Shreeja Varghese, Dean of Saveetha Dental College has felicitated the Guest Speakers. Prof.Dr.Kylie Williams, Head of Discipline, Pharmacy University of Technology Sydney, Australia delivered a talk on “Recent trends and Research avenues in Pharmacy”. Dr.Kamal Dua, Lecturer, Pharmacy University of Technology Sydney, Australia has delivered a talk on “ Biological Targets for therapeutic interventions in asthma” . Dr.K.Senthilkumaran, Dean of PG studies and Pharm.D has delivered a talk on “Chronomodulated drug delivery systems in drug discovery” and Dr.B. Premkumar gave an extensive talk on computational tools in drug discovery. The symposium was enriched with the active participation of the delegates with e-poster presentation. Two best e-posters were awarded with merit certificates. The TN DCI has allocated 4 credit points for the programme. The feedback from the delegates was really encouraging.
Dr. Selvaraj from Siddha College, gave lecture on Herbal medicine and its uses in Dentistry. His lecture paved way for various research ideas amongst the students around 95 students attended the event. It seemed to be grand success
Workshop on “Post and Core” had been conducted on 10th March 2019. It was an one day program which includes lecture and demonstration on post and core build up followed by hands-on workshop. Course was limited only for 5 participants in order to provide better care and attention. Live patient demo was showed followed by Models. Each participant had performed both metal and FRC post on anterior and posterior teeth. Lecture and hands-on were more interactive, all of them showed more interest in gaining knowledge. Step by step clinical procedures had been shown and evaluated to each and every participant by one on one interaction.
A CDE on Comprehensive Grant Writing for Beginners was held on 22nd March 2019 by the Research Department with the moto to ingrain adequate knowledge and awareness on different approaches towards writing a grant among the graduate and post graduates. This seminar and workshop was attended by more than 60 delegates from various disciplines of dentistry. The Guest Lectures was delivered by 5 eminent speakers, in which Dr. Ezhilarasan discussed about the roots of writing a grant, Dr. Kanagaraj spoke about the key points and structure in writing a winning grant while Dr. Vijayashree Priyadharshini highlighted the major funding agencies and types of funds available and Dr.D.urairaj Sekar gave an insight into the importance of grant writing for extramural research. Grant Oppurtunities in DST AND DST-SERB was elaborated by Dr.Rajeshkumar. At the end of the workshop the participants were motivated to write grant proposals and were inspired to apply for various funds.
