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Edgerton receives Postdoc Mentor Award

By SUE WUETCHER

Published July 27, 2016 This content is archived.

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Mira Edgerton.

Mira Edgerton

Mira Edgerton, a dentist and research professor in the Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, is the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Postdoc Mentor Award from the Graduate School’s Office of Postdoctoral Scholars.

Edgerton’s receipt of the award was announced as part of the annual Postdoc Research Symposium hosted by the Graduate School last month. Nominations for the annual award are submitted by postdoctoral scholars from UB, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, UB’s Research Institute on Addictions and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Center.

Graham Hammill, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School, called Edgerton “an excellent role model who stresses the importance of the balance between personal life and the professional career to her mentees.”

“She does not hesitate to help her postdoctoral associates (researchers who are gaining more intensive and focused experiences following their PhD training) with issues that can be stressful for a researcher,” Hammill said, citing as an example immigration issues that may be encountered by international scholars.

“Dr. Edgerton has been pivotal in enabling the transition of postdocs from dependent to independent researchers,” he said. “She provides the necessary support to develop scientific writing and grantsmanship training for her mentees, advancing their professional careers.”

Edgerton also offers advice and letters of recommendation, reaches out to her peers and makes connections to facilitate job hunting and encourages attendance at professional conferences, which allows postdocs to acquire valuable networking experience, he said.

“Postdocs in her group are self-assured of the prospects ahead of them because of her mentoring.”

Edgerton also “encourages postdocs to develop their own ideas, even if they may depart from the undergoing research theme in the lab,” Hammill said, which allows them “to build new avenues of research.”

Postdocs who nominated her for the award called her “one of the finest and a genuine mentor” and someone who “maintained an open-door policy and was accessible at all times for mentorship.” Another reported having two NIH grants under review, “an accomplishment that would not have been possible without her support and training.”

A UB faculty member since 1982, Edgerton also has maintained a private dental practice specializing in prosthodontics since 1983.

Her research, which has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on antimicrobial defense mechanisms in the oral cavity, an area of research in which she has published numerous papers and delivered many presentations at national and international conferences.

Most recently, she has been working to develop a strategy to combat oral thrush infections. The research is funded by a five-year, nearly $2 million grant renewal from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

Edgerton also has served on numerous committees, panels and/or boards at the UB School of Dental Medicine and in the professional community at large.