2005 Business Meeting Minutes

Baltimore, Maryland at the Annual meeting of the IADR/AADR
Thursday, March 10, 2005, 12:45 pm

Attendance:
Mark Wolff, Allen Otsuka, Frank Scannapieco, Andrew Spielman, Steven London, Israel Kleinberg, Mustafa Dabbous, Edward T. Lally, Maria Ryan, Fred Stange, Sunday Akintoye, Joel Rudney, Bjorn Steffensen, Jane Steffensen, Ivan Vyuchnow, Olga Emeliyanova

Minutes of the last meeting
Minutes of the last meeting held on March 12, 2004 in Honolulu, Hawaii were read and approved without changes.

President's Report

• The official AAOB journal Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Oral Medicine was successfully merged with Journal of Dental Research
• The editor of CROB, Dr. Olav Alvarez was unable to attend the meeting but sent his greetings. He was commended for the good editorial he wrote in the maiden issue of the joint journal
• The AAOB was highly commended for the good membership support; currently there are 52 paying members.
• Dr. Mark Wolf was commended for his efforts in updating the membership mailing list for 2003-2004. Bjorn Steffensen has further adjusted the database based on the most recent member information in the fall of 2004.
• Although AAOB is stable in terms of membership and financially, the association still needs to reinforce membership by inviting more new members. Bjorn Steffensen recommended that all current members to actively encourage colleagues with an interest in Oral Biology issues to join the AAOB.

Drs. Steve London and Andrew Spielman thanked the President for the excellent work done in making the year a very successful one

Secretary/Treasurer's Report
Dr. Salomon Amar sent in his report which was presented by the president. The current account balance presented was $12,197.00. The treasurer's report was unanimously accepted.

New Business

1. AAOB Web site
   

   Dr. Mark Wolff reported that the former AAOB web site managed by Dr. Steve London has now been translated to a new site www.aaob.org Through the effort of Dr. Andrew Spielmsan, the www.aaob.org domain name has been secured for 7 years. We should remember to renew it so that it does not get snatched by another person or group. The web site is up and running and it is currently hosted by Stony Brook University School of dental medicine. Construction of the new web site is an ongoing process. Members were asked to access the site, go through the contents and check for errors. Since the web site is accessible to the public, it is an opportunity for us to get our ideas out to the public at large. Any ideas on how to maximize the use of the web site to our advantage will be welcomed. It is a good avenue to post relevant oral biology cases and start ongoing dialogue. Joint ADEA and AAOB surveys as well as sample board exam questions can be posted on the site. These will increase the number of people accessing the site. Dr. Wolff also informed the group that AAOB is listed with Google, so that AAOB site can be accessed through Google search engine. More information will be obtained on the cost of being listed first when a Google search is done on AAOB The president commended Dr. Mark Wolf highly for his hard work on the AAOB Website. He affirmed that the website will be a good venue for disseminating information on oral biology.

2. Guidelines for oral biology basic science curriculum
   

   Drs Allen Otsuka and Mark Wolf are working on putting together these guidelines. Both are actively involved in the ADEA curricular activities in areas pertaining to Oral Biology. Several comments on this were entertained. Dr. Andrew Spielman informed the group that ADEA academic council of deans is currently reorganizing the dental curriculum. We could use our influence to integrate oral biology as the most important basic science subject to be taught because Dr. Spielman works closely with Dr. Mike Alfano the chairman of this ADEA committee. Dr. Moustafa Dabbous suggested that the AAOB oral biology guidelines should encompass several aspects of basic science Dr. Wolf also informed the group that CODA, ADA and ADEA are in support of the establishment of oral biology guidelines by AAOB. Dr. Israel Kleinberg reminded the group that AAOB is a legally independent non-profit association that can directly lobby different groups including politicians. We should use our influence to our advantage Dr. Frank Scannapeico asked for clarification on the reason why basic science courses are being eliminated in dental schools. Dr. Spielman responded that basic science course will not be eliminated but may become part of the prerequisite courses for dental school admission. The schools will be able to reduce cost and students will have more time for clinical training. Dr. Maria Ryan noted that oral biology course varies from school to school, so the challenge will be how to streamline all these into one that will be acceptable by all dental schools. Dr. Steve London stated that AAOB should still be the body that will provide the framework that dental schools can adapt to their individual needs. Dr. Israel Kleinberg provided a history of several attempts to update a unifying oral biology curriculum and agreed that the time is right to come up with revised guidelines for an oral biology curriculum. He distributed a copy of an earlier set of guidelines prepared by AAOB and published in JDE in 1984. Members were asked to take time to review these guidelines and provide a feedback by e-mail to Dr. Mark Wolf Dr. Mark Wolff informed the group that he will send electronic versions to all members by e-mail; he will also collate the responses The follow up work on the oral biology competency exam is also related to the ongoing work on a revised oral biology curriculum. These will eventually be published in Journal of Dental Education for publication.

3. Oral Biology Awards
   

   Dr. Allen Otsuka reported that 49 schools in the United States and Canada participated in the 2004 Oral Biology awards program organized by AAOB. This represents a participation rate of 80%. He will continue to keep in touch will all dental schools so as to maintain and further improve the high participation rate. Dr. Spielman commented that the students conferred with this award should also be encouraged to participate in AAOB activities. This will allow them to activate their one year free AAOB membership

4. Oral biology program surveys
   

   Dr. Mark Wolff reported that this survey on Oral Biology programs was sent through ADEA to the Dean of academic affairs at the different dental schools. Of the 33 responses, 17 schools do not have oral biology programs, 4 have MS program and the others have both MS/PhD programs.

5. ADEA membership
   

   A recent resolution has been passed by ADEA on open enrollment. If an institution is a member of ADEA, individuals from that institution can now automatically join ADEA. All AAOB members should seize this opportunity to join ADEA; specifically the Oral Biology section so that we can boost our membership in ADEA.

6. Joint ADEA/AAOB meeting
   

   The joint ADEA/AADR meeting in Orlando FL in 2006 presents a good opportunity to invite some ADEA members to attend and observe the AAOB meeting next year.

7. Dr. Israel Kleinberg introduced 2 well accomplished students visiting from University of Moscow, Russia.

Election of officers

Minutes were prepared and submitted by Dr. Sunday Akintoye.