New leadership in UB dental school to focus on teamwork, faculty development

The School of Dental Medicine has named Frank Scannapieco as associate dean for faculty and professional development, and appointed Richard Scott Conley the new chair of the Department of Orthodontics.

In his new role, Scannapieco, who also serves as chair of the Department of Oral Biology, will organize faculty development programs, manage nominations and awards, and coordinate faculty mentoring. He will oversee Continuing Dental Education as well, and aims to expand the curriculum to include new distance learning and online courses.

“Faculty face many challenges as they move through their careers. It is important for the school to provide a framework by which they can receive guidance to allow them to achieve their personal and professional goals,” Scannapieco says.

“I look forward to working with Dean Zambon and the department chairs to encourage and challenge our faculty. We also hope to take advantage of all of the great activities going on within the dental school and UB to develop continuing education programs that synergize professional, faculty and student learning.”

Joseph Zambon, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, says he’s pleased that Scannapieco accepted the position. “It serves to emphasize the importance we place both on our faculty’s continuing professional development and on the significant role the School of Dental Medicine serves as a resource for dental professionals in acquiring new skills,” Zambon says.

In addition to his teaching and mentoring activities, Scannapieco has conducted NIH-funded research for years on the mechanisms of dental plaque formation and their implications on health and disease. His other research interests include the interactions between saliva and bacteria, and the relationships between oral and systematic disease.

He has received more than $12 million in grant funding, published more than 125 articles in academic journals and has received numerous awards, including the William J. Gies Award for Achievement from the American Dental Education Association.

Scannapieco received a DMD from the University of Connecticut in 1985 and a doctorate in oral biology from UB in 1991. He has been on the dental school faculty since 1987.

Conley, who began his tenure with UB this fall, joined the university from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, where he served as Robert W. Browne Endowed Professor of Dentistry and acting chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry.

Bringing more than 17 years of experience in orthodontia, Conley aims to institute a renewed focus on teamwork and collaboration in the department.

“I want to create a balanced department that has people with strengths in research, clinical care and teaching who learn from each other and build one another up. It is a vision I have had ever since I started my academic career,” says Conley, who was also named the L.B. Badgero Endowed Associate Professor in the UB Department of Orthodontics.

The emphasis on development also will provide opportunities for new and younger faculty to expand their skills, says Conley, noting that this approach will extend to UB dental staff as well.

“One group that is often overlooked is the administrative and clinical staff. They do a lot of the work and often don’t get the respect and recognition that they should,” he says.

“One of my goals is to highlight the strengths that they can bring to the program. A lot of the things that they do go unseen, but make the rest of us look good and enable us to perform at our best.”

Conley joins the dental school just as it begins preparation for a $22 million renovation of the UB Dental Clinic and construction of a pre-clinical simulation laboratory. Since his arrival in the fall, Conley has quickly established himself as an outstanding department chair, Zambon says.

In addition to training dozens of future dentists, Conley has presented his research at more than 60 national and international events; published in orthodontic-, surgical- and sleep-related journals; and has received more than $380,000 in grant funding. He is the recipient of past institutional and clinical research awards, including multiple American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) Foundation grant awards.

Conley holds a DMD from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Hamilton College.