Pearly white resume for Dental dean

Marjorie Jeffcoat comes to Penn with three distinguished decades of dentistry experience in the research lab, behind an administrator's desk and in those hard-to-reach places around the gum line. Formally announced last week as on deck to replace School of Dental Medicine Dean Raymond Fonseca when his term expires this summer, Jeffcoat currently serves as the chair of the University of Alabama School of Dentistry's periodontics department. When it comes to Jeffcoat's work, however, periodontics is hardly the whole story. "She's been joking that she's recently logged more [continuing education] hours in OB/GYN than in dentistry,"colleague Nico Geurs said, describing Jeffcoat's award-winning presentation on dentistry and prenatal care last week that showed a significant reduction in premature births when mothers undergo scaling and root planing in the second trimester of pregnancy. "If the follow-up study confirms what we found in the pilot, that's really going to change pre-natal care," Geurs said. Director of Alabama's pre-doctoral program in periodontics, Geurs has known Jeffcoat both as her student and as her colleague. "She was my mentor," Geurs said, adding that Jeffcoat's enthusiasm "inspired me so much that I applied to be a resident." Now, seven years later, Jeffcoat's excellence as a researcher and administrator seem to rival her performance as a teacher and mentor. "She's excellent at getting research projects in and very good at dispersing all the work," Geurs enthused. "She doesn't just keep them to herself." "I've gotten projects I thought I wouldn't have been able to do until a lot later in my career" through Jeffcoat's assistance, Geurs said. Other former students shared Geurs' appreciation of Jeffcoat's style and approachability. "She's my role model," former Alabama graduate student Rupa Hamal said. "I'm from Nepal originally, and she gave me the opportunity to get into the research world," Hamal continued. "She opened the door for me." Hamal, who has her doctorate in dental medicine from Penn as well as a master's in oral biology from Alabama, predicted that Jeffcoat and the University will complement each other nicely. "She's very research oriented," Hamal said. "Also, Penn is kind of hurting in the field of periodontics, so... I'm hoping she can help them there." What's more, though Jeffcoat has consistently held major appointments in research and academic organizations, including the editorship of the Journal of the American Dental Association, multitasking has never been a problem for the former Harvard professor. "She really guided me through the dissertation process," Hamal said. "She always had time." "She's the kind of person who can do four or five things at once," Geurs concurred. Jeffcoat, a Boston native with an undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said she was wooed into dentistry both by those who "convinced me that I could make a difference" and by the prospect of using the "tools I learned at MIT," combining engineering and biology to design and execute clinical trials. "I do the kind of research that brings developments from the bench-top to people," Jeffcoat said. "It's a really rewarding field." Known for her interdisciplinary, broad-minded outlook, Jeffcoat confessed that Penn's large, flexible and diverse academic community drew her to Philadelphia. "Your mouth is connected to the rest of your body," Jeffcoat cheerfully said, explaining her willingness to do work outside her field. "I work with everybody here, and that's what I want to do at Penn." Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine R. Bruce Donoff, who worked with Jeffcoat during her decade on Harvard's faculty, commended the University on its choice. "Dr. Jeffcoat is an outstanding professional and true leader," Donoff said in an e-mail. "Her new position will challenge her for sure, but she has great interpersonal skills, a marvelous temperament for dealing with difficult issues and people and wonderful vision," he continued. "The Harvard School of Dental Medicine is proud of all our graduates, but especially proud and fortunate to call Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat one of our own. Pennsylvania has chosen well."

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