Alexandra Oklejas is president of National Student Research Group for 2020-21
Alexandra Oklejas, a joint DDS/PhD student at the School of Dentistry, is the new president of the National Student Research Group, which is affiliated with the American Association of Dental Research.
Alexandra Oklejas
Oklejas just finished her third year of the 7-year PhD Oral Health Sciences program and is beginning her first year of DDS education this summer.
The National Student Research Group, or NSRG, is a student-run organization whose main purpose is to foster an environment in every dental school whereby students interested in enriching their dental education through research are encouraged to do so. It is composed of a network of self-governing local student research group chapters at each dental school and is led nationally by officers elected through a majority of votes from all members.
“I’ve been involved in a few programs through the AADR that have been amazing experiences, like the Hatton Award, the 411 Rapid Research Competition, and SCADA (Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and Its Application),” Oklejas said. “Through my role as president, I hope to continue advocating for students within the greater AADR board. The NSRG has fostered a lot of opportunities for student research engagement that I will continue supporting, and I hope to contribute new ways to promote student engagement.”
A major goal of the NSRG is to help dental students across the nation establish chapters and encourage participation in their respective schools, to ensure that research is seen as a vital aspect of dentistry. An organization goal is for all schools to recognize the benefits of incorporating research into their curricula and will choose to do so formally or through local NSRG chapters.
As president, Oklejas is tasked with providing effective leadership in achieving the NSRG’s mission. She presides over the annual business meeting, serves as the NSRG’s official representative to other organizations, serves as a voting member of the AADR Board of Directors and attends board meetings (one in December and one in April/May), and attends every officer meeting. Although the U-M dental school has a long history of research and commitment to many research organizations, including NSRG, Oklejas is the first president of the organization since 2006.
Oklejas was to be officially announced as president at the annual joint conference of AADR/IADR in March in Washington, D.C., but it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. For now, all of the NSRG’s business and meetings will be conducted online. Oklejas will lead the organization through the 2021 annual AADR conference in Boston, Mass., next March.
Oklejas’ research for her PhD dissertation involves targeting cancer stem cells in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. She is investigating mechanisms by which cancer stem cells mediate resistance to conventional chemotherapy.
