Featherstone Plans for Changes as Appointed School of Dentistry Dean

John D.B. Featherstone, PhD, the newly appointed dean of the School of Dentistry, is an international expert on tooth decay — and an avid downhill skier. Although navigating the course ahead as the leader of the most highly esteemed dental school in the nation is more of an uphill endeavor — especially during tight budget times — Featherstone appears undaunted. After all, until recently, the New Zealand native also climbed mountains for fun. In naming Featherstone dean, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, noted that “his exemplary service demonstrates how well suited he is to serve as the dean on an ongoing basis.” Featherstone has served as interim dean since the retirement of the previous dean, Charles Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc, in August 2007. He has been a member of the school’s faculty for 13 years and served as chair of the school’s Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences from 1996 to 2005. Featherstone’s appointment requires the approval of the UC Board of Regents, which is pending. Featherstone intends to a launch a strategic planning process and to have a new strategic plan for the school in place in a year. One goal, Featherstone says, is “to dramatically improve the physical and administrative infrastructure of our predoctoral clinical programs.” As interim dean, Featherstone had already begun overseeing the installation of digital radiography imaging equipment, which is expected to be completed in all clinics within months. In addition, to improving management of clinical programs, he created a new position, associate dean for clinical affairs, now held by School of Dentistry faculty member Mark Kirkland, DDS. “Already it is making a difference from an administrative point of view, from a financial point of view, and most importantly, from an educational point of view,” Featherstone says. Before the state budget was passed, Featherstone had been anticipating a roughly $1.5 million cut for the School of Dentistry, which will significantly impact educational programs. About 40 percent of the budget for educational programs within the school is supported by state funds. Overall, about 50 percent of the school’s budget is accounted for by non-state-funded research grants. “We’ve reduced staffing; we’ve made things more efficient,” Featherstone says. “One of our biggest challenges is being able to conduct our operations with the reduced state funding and to find other creative ways of funding our day-to-day operations.” Despite the budget challenges, Featherstone’s goals include continuing to improve the effectiveness of clinic administration, producing better training experiences for students, and maintaining preeminence in dental research and teaching by hiring the best faculty. Field of Dentistry Evolves Dental practice is evolving, Featherstone notes. Dentistry is going to become more diagnostic, and diagnosis may encompass diseases beyond dental or gum decay, Featherstone says. For instance, saliva will be used to diagnose a variety of medical conditions. “We’re training our dentists to think in a very different fashion, to think prospectively and preventively in the way they deal with patients,” Featherstone says. “There are diagnostic tools coming on the market that will change the face of dentistry. Being able to do bacterial assessments will be a chairside activity in the next year or two.” Featherstone also believes that in the near future, the detection of dental caries — cavities — will be accomplished through the use of optical technologies being developed around the world, and especially at UCSF. Two methods are in clinical testing at UCSF. These technologies are expected to lessen or eliminate the need for dental X-rays. Tissue regeneration research, another area in which UCSF is a leader, also appears likely to lead to improvements in practice, he adds. Featherstone intends to continue leading his research lab team in their dental caries investigations, and he also plans to continue teaching. Years ago, as Featherstone prepared to embark on a career in industry, he was dubious of the counsel of one of his professors, who claimed that Featherstone was destined to become an able administrator in academia. “My message to students is that you never know where your career path is going to go,” Featherstone says. “You just take your opportunities and run with them, and never look back.”